(Ecofin Agency) - In Cote d’Ivoire, hundreds of trucks loaded with cocoa which is to be exported are blocked at the Abidjan port, AFP reveals.

There are 700 trucks overall blocked here at the port of Abidjan, said Moussa Koné, head of the National Syndicate of Producers for Progress. In San Pédro, second port of the country, trucks loaded with cocoa have been parked for days, he added.

According to various actors of the sector, the reasons for the blocking lie behind the halt in purchase of cocoa decided by the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), which is the regulatory authority. The move, they believe, was translated by CCC’s refusing to “deliver export permits”, which exporters need to buy cocoa.

Some experts think the CCC’s decision was driven by the slump in the value of cocoa on the London Stock Exchange. The commodity’s price indeed slumped to FCFA1380 (€2.1) while the export sales price set by the CCC is FCFA1850 (€2.8). The FCFA470 gap is what the CCC refuses to support, AFP indicates citing an exporter.

Let’s recall that Ivory Coast has produced in 2016 1.5 million metric tonnes of cocoa. It awarded export permits to 93 companies during the 2016/17 cocoa season.