Cocoa farmers in Ghana have so far harvested 965,493 metric tons as of June 3, 2021
• The Ghana Cocoa Board said it has raised US$2 billion in cocoa produce bills between January and May 2021
•COCOBOD plans to raise US$1.5 billion through syndicated loans for the upcoming crop season in October this year
•Cocoa farmers in Ghana have so far harvested 965,493 metric tons as of June 3, 2021
Ghana Cocoa Board has disclosed it raised GH¢11.7 billion (US$2 billion) in cocoa produce bills between January and May 2021, Bloomberg has reported.
Head of Finance and Administration at COCOBOD, Ray Ankrah explained that the outfit increased bill sales in order to help refinance maturing obligations and further plans to raise US$1.5 billion through syndicated loans for the upcoming crop season in October this year.
In an interaction with Bloomberg monitored by GhanaWeb, Ankrah said COCOBOD has since exceeded its 2020-21 cocoa production target and subsequently stretched the US$1.3 billion syndicated loan that was earlier raised at the beginning of the season in October 2020.
Cocoa farmers in Ghana have so far harvested 965,493 metric tons as of June 3, 2021 compared with a target of 900,000 tons for the whole crop year that ends in September 2021.
Market watchers however say this places Ghana within the reach of the 1-million-ton mark, which was last achieved back in the 2010-11 crop year.
Meanwhile, yields on the bills have begun to fall as traders speculate that the regulator will make more income from the bumper crop.