Côte d'Ivoire will increase the amount of cocoa it processes domestically to 49% of production from October, with the addition of several new plants, the head of the industry regulator said on Friday. Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer, with an annual production of about 2.2 million tonnes. Currently about 35-40% is processed in the country and the rest exported, but the government has a goal of increasing to at least 50%.

The West African country has signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to build a new plant in San Pedro with a milling capacity of 120,000 tons, said Yves Brahima Kone, director general of the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), which was in Abu Dhabi this month to open a new CCC office. "This permanent representation (in Abu Dhabi) is the fruit of our new vision for Ivorian cocoa that we want to export to the whole world. This office will allow us to explore markets in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa," he said. Reuters.

Côte d'Ivoire also expects two new China-funded plants to go into production in October, with a production capacity of 50,000 tons each, Kone said.

The new plants will allow the country to process more than 1 million tons of cocoa a year, making it the world's leading cocoa grinder, he said. He currently competes with the Netherlands for first place. The state has implemented an aggressive policy in recent years to make local processing attractive, including offering tax cuts and other incentives for Ivory Coast businesses.

Source: Agrolink