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Ivory Coast expects cocoa production to reach between 2 million and 2.1 million metric tons in the current 2025/26 season, which runs to the end of September. That would represent a 10.5% increase from the previous crop, according to the head of the Coffee and Cocoa Council.
The forecast would mark the first rise in output for the world’s largest cocoa producer in three seasons. Production had fallen sharply in recent years because of bad weather, ageing plantations and the fast spread of swollen shoot disease.
CCC Director Yves Brahima Kone said high cocoa prices over the past two seasons helped farmers buy more fertiliser and improve plantation management. He said arrivals at the country’s two ports had already topped just over 1.7 million tons by May 11, showing a better trend than in the last two seasons.
Still, some traders said large volumes of cocoa remained unsold in the country. They said exporters had held back sales in hopes of higher prices, while farmers also delayed sales because of lower farmgate prices.
Looking ahead, Kone said survey teams returning from cocoa-growing areas reported slightly weaker pod survival rates than last year. He said there were concerns about the end of the current season, but even more about the start of the next main crop.
Three pod counters and five farmers also told Reuters that fields had fewer pods and flowers after drought damage. That has raised fresh concern that next year’s crop may not repeat this season’s improvement.
