By Obafemi Oredein

Special to Dow Jones Newswires


IBADAN, Nigeria--A weaker Nigerian currency is causing cocoa prices to rise further, industry officials and traders said Wednesday.

The Nigerian naira has continued to depreciate since June, when the Central Bank of Nigeria allowed a free float of the national currency against the dollar and other global currencies.

In Cross River state, the country's second-largest cocoa producer, prices rose to 3.2 million naira ($4,178) a metric ton compared with NGN3 million a ton last week, according to Godwin Ukwu, an official of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria.

The chocolate ingredient fetched NGN3.2 million a ton in Ekiti state located in the southwest region, from NGN2.7 million a ton a week ago, said a Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria official.

A trader in Ondo, Nigeria's biggest cocoa producer, said the commodity is selling for NGN3 million to NGN3.15 million a ton, up from NGN2.9 million to NGN3 million a ton on Oct. 11.

In Abia, located in the southeast region, the prices of cocoa rose to NGN3 million a ton versus NGN2.7 million a ton last week, said Mazi Uche, a trader.

The commodity is trading in Oyo, in the southwest region, at NGN2.7 million a ton from NGN2.5 million on Monday, according to a trader.

Meanwhile, cocoa prices are steady at NGN2.8 million a ton in Osun, the country's third-largest cocoa producer.


Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-18-23 1252ET