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In Côte d’Ivoire, the Hévéa-Palmier à Huile Council has suspended, since Monday, December 12, 2022, palm oil exports in the sub-region. This is a temporary measure for Côte d’Ivoire, which produces an average of 500,000 tonnes of palm oil per year. The country wants to better regulate its internal market and avoid shortages.
It all started with an observation made by the Department of Internal Trade: the market is going through supply disruptions. ” Some palm oil formats are no longer available in stores “, indicates an agent of this department. A ” escape which is done for the benefit of external markets, where palm oil is sold at a higher price, continues this source. With the economic crisis linked to the war in Ukraine, Côte d’Ivoire decided to cap the prices of around twenty products to avoid generalized inflation which would impact consumers. The palm oil produced is officially sold for 1,200 CFA francs per bag in bulk, and 26,500 CFA francs for a 25-litre container.
« These difficulties are linked to the ceiling “, recognizes Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, the Ivorian Minister of Agriculture. ” There are crooked tradershe explains, who, rather than selling palm oil on the Ivorian market, circumvent it and fraudulently export part of the product available to them “. To deal with this situation, the Hévéa-Palmier à Huile Council suspended exports. The goal is to regulate flows.
A ” temporary precautionary measure »
If, in a press release, the industrial group claims to play the game and supply the market, on the ground, the realities are quite different. The Ministry of Commerce’s Rapid Control Brigade observes the absence of oil cans in most shops in Abidjan every day. Investigations are underway to identify where the problem lies. ” Is it at the level of wholesalers or semi-wholesalers ? asks Commander Armand Koffi. Do these people use subterfuge to speculate on the products ? Or, is the problem related to the factories, which say they supply the market and which in reality do not ? »
Another player in the sector wonders about the porosity of the borders, particularly with Ghana: “ Is this measure actually applied ? Is the product exported in other forms ? According to BCEAO statistics, in the first four months of 2022, palm oil exports increased by 165% and brought in 212 billion CFA francs.
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