Inside the Warehouse · Overseas WarehousesAfrica
West Africa Cocoa Bean Warehouse Storage: Moisture Control, Mold Prevention, and Warehouse Receipts in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana
West Africa cocoa bean warehouse storage lives or dies on one number: moisture. With Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana producing more than half of the world's cocoa, ISO 2451 capping bean moisture at 7.5%, and New York futures near $5,600 a ton in September 2026, every percentage point of storage loss is expensive. This article works through real origin-warehouse scenarios in both countries: intake triage when a lot tests at 8.3%, mold and insect control during the long wait at Tema and Abidjan ports, and the financial logic of warehouse receipts after Ghana's 2026 cocoa-board payment crunch and the IFC's $300 million backstop. It includes a decision framework for intake moisture, a back-of-the-envelope loss calculation for a mold-downgraded lot, and three counterintuitive judgments on ventilation, over-drying, and what a warehouse receipt is actually worth.
2026-10-19
