According to the report by Bloomberg, Ghana failed to secure buyers last Wednesday due to the “high” price of the cocoa beans and the introduction of a surcharge.

But a statement issued Monday and signed by the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, explained that the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) last week decided to go a market sounding after the introduction of a Living Income Differential (LID) and weigh the market reaction and its dynamics.

It said the LID was not a surcharge, as had been reported; but a part of the price component of the trading mechanism.

The statement therefore urged the public to disregard the report by Bloomberg, adding that the report seems to fall in line with a certain negative narrative of a challenge in the implementation of well-understood trading mechanism

“We wish to assure Ghanaian farmers and all stakeholders that, the new mechanism has been understood to be the official trading system, and we shall sell at a price for the benefit of our farmers and the sustainability of the cocoa industry,” the statement added.

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire last week lifted the suspension of the sale of 2020/21 cocoa beans after officially announcing the new trading mechanism for the sale of cocoa.

The two countries in June resolved to sell a tonne of cocoa beans for $2,600 or above.