Ivory Coast cashew output could hit record 1.5-million tons: regulator
The world's top cashew and cocoa producer has already collected 1.4-million tons of raw cashew nuts as of Tuesday, with about 100,000 tons still in the hands of farmers, said Mamadou Berte, director of the Cotton and Cashew Council.
The expected output beats the 1.15-million tons forecast and last year's output of 944,000 tons.
"This year, with all the measures we've taken to secure our borders, we think we're reaching our true production in terms of quantity," Berte said in an interview, adding that new cashew plantations also contributed to the growth.
The sector estimates 200,000 to 250,000 tons of raw nuts are smuggled every year across the borders into Ghana and Burkina Faso, where cashew prices are usually higher.
But Ivory Coast stepped up its fight against cocoa and cashew smuggling with the help of special units that carried out targeted checks and surveillance operations on the eastern and northern borders.
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