Accra, September 03, 2008 - Ghana expects a 2008/09 cocoa harvest of 650,000 tonnes, state regulator Cocobod said on Wednesday as it signed a record $1 billion syndicated loan with international banks for the upcoming season.
Bankers at the signing ceremony said the $1 billion facility, which will finance cocoa purchases from farmers in the world's No. 2 producer, was believed to be the largest single softs commodity financing ever organised.
Cocobod Deputy Chief Executive Charles Ntim told reporters in Accra that Ghana expected to purchase around 650,000 tonnes of cocoa in the upcoming 2008/09 harvest season.
"We hope to buy about 650,000 tonnes of cocoa next year. This includes the light crop forecast as well, which we see around 50,000 tonnes," he said,
Final figures for the 2007/08 cocoa harvest in the West African country have not yet been released.
But high expectations for a total harvest of 700,000 tonnes have slipped recently as the smaller end of season light crop was hit by smuggling and unfavourable weather.
"Barring any mishaps, we will have a normal season that will take us to our target," Ntim said of the 2008/09 forecast.
The loan signed on Wednesday was higher than the $900 million financing obtained by Cocobod for the 2007/08 crop.
It effectively rolled over the loan facility provided last year by a group led by Britain's Standard Chartered and France's Societe Generale.
The new syndicated loan includes Japanese banks among its leaders and European ones.
Ntim said the loan facility had been oversubscribed by 33 percent. "We asked for $900 million and the subscription gave us $1.2 billion, so we decided to take $1 billion," he said.
Ahead of every crop year in Ghana, Cocobod raises syndicated loans through international financers in Europe for cocoa purchases.
Cocobod chief executive Isaac Osei said last year's $900 million loan had been repaid in full by Ghana.