World’s No. 2 Cocoa producer set for biggest crop in a decade

Ghana, the world’s no. 2 cocoa grower, is headed for its biggest harvest in at least a decade after good weather and government interventions helped boost its output, according to a Bloomberg report citing two people familiar with the matter.

Favorable conditions, improved farmer prices and better farming practices, such as hand pollination and pruning, raised production to 965,493 tons by June 3, when the main-crop harvest ended, said the people who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public

That’s already the highest in five years, before accounting for some main-crop deliveries still underway and a 12-week mid-crop season that ends in September. Earlier projections estimated that the smaller harvest would produce 50,000 tons of cocoa.

The Ghana Cocoa Board now expects the annual output to exceed the 1 million-mark for the first time since 2010-2011, the people said. A spokesman for the regulator did not immediately comment when reached by phone.

Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast, which produce almost 70% of the world’s cocoa, expanded output just as the pandemic locked down cities around the world, hurting demand. The two countries secured a pay raise for cocoa farmers by charging companies from Hershey Co. to Nestle SA a premium of $400 per ton from Oct. 1. But a drop in consumption has left growers unable to sell their crop.

Italy orders inquiry into Eni-Shell Nigeria corruption prosecutors
Italy’s justice ministry ordered an inquiry on Tuesday into the conduct of two prosecutors in a corruption case involving energy groups Eni and Shell in Nigeria.

According to Reuters, Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro were placed under official investigation by magistrates earlier this month for allegedly not filing documents that would have supported Eni’s position.

De Pasquale and Spadaro declined to comment on the latest development. Milan’s top prosecutor said last week that he backed the two men, after a trial lasting more than three years.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement it had decided to move in the wake of the judicial investigation and following criticism of the pair by the trial judges.