IBADAN, Nigeria — Cocoa prices have risen this week in some producing states in Nigeria due to the slight improvement in the quality of beans on sale, industry officials and traders said Wednesday.
“The recent rains have boosted the size and weight of the cocoa, cocoa quality is up a little and prices have increased,” said Jide Abayomi, a trader in Ibadan, capital of Oyo state in the southwest.
Four cocoa-producing states — Edo, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Ogun — are currently selling cocoa at prices higher than in recent days while the prices are steady in Osun state, they said.
In Edo state, the biggest cocoa grower in Nigeria`s midwest region, the prices of graded cocoa stand at 900,000 Nigerian naira ($2,195) a metric ton up from NGN850,000 on Thursday, according to Johnbull Ewerami, a trader.
Exporters in Akwa Ibom state located in the southeast region, are buying cocoa for NGN800,000 up from NGN750,000 last week, according to Trader Bassey Ekikere in Uyo the state`s capital.
In Abia state, also in the southeast region, cocoa is trading at NGN860,000 compared with NGN850,000 on Thursday, said Mazi Uche, an official of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria who is also a trader in Umuahia the state`s capital.
Cocoa is trading higher at NGN870,000 in Ogun state in the southwest region, up from NGN800,000 to NGN850,000 last week, according to Nojeem Olomide, a CAN official.
Meanwhile, cocoa prices are steady at NGN850,000 in Osun state, the country`s third-largest producer located in the southwest region, said a trader.
Graded cocoa has been certified as fit for export by government produce inspectors.