Cocoa ports
Autonomous Port of San-Pédro
The port of the western cocoa loop: one of the world’s leading bean-export ports.
- Location
- South-west coast, Bas-Sassandra region
- Status
- Autonomous port (PASP), public body
- Cocoa hinterland
- Nawa (Soubré), Haut-Sassandra (Daloa), Gôh, Cavally and Guémon
- Key cargo
- Cocoa beans, then timber, rubber and farm products
Why San-Pédro matters
San-Pédro was developed from the 1960s-70s to open up the forested south-west, today the country’s leading production basin. Beans arrive by truck from Soubré, Daloa, Gagnoa or Guiglo and ship out only a few hundred kilometres from the plantations.
Its proximity to collection areas cuts inland transport costs compared with Abidjan, making it the preferred port for exporters of western beans.
Role in the sector
- Receiving and storing beans in port warehouses
- Quality control and weighing before shipping
- Loading onto vessels bound for Europe, the Americas and Asia
- Hosting grinding and processing units in the area
Challenges
Quay, storage-area and access-road development conditions how smoothly each season runs. The port is also affected by bean traceability (origin, deforestation) required by buyers and by European regulation.
Exact volumes and expansion projects are published by the Autonomous Port of San-Pédro and the Coffee-Cocoa Council; see their releases for current-season figures.