P.M. BRIEFING : Cocoa Group Expels U.S. Firm
The U.S. commodity trade house Philipp Brothers Inc., known as Phibro, was expelled from the French cocoa trade association today, dealing the firm another setback in its bid to become the world’s largest cocoa trader.
Phibro, a unit of brokerage powerhouse Salomon Inc., was banished from the AFCC because it missed a Dec. 4 deadline for paying compensation to the International Cocoa Organization and five trade competitors, the organization announced.
The AFCC had ordered the compensation, estimated to total at least $4.7 million, after Phibro failed to deliver cocoa to the ICO and the trade houses in 1988.
Cocoa traders said the expulsion would have little immediate practical impact on Phibro. But they said it would tarnish the firm’s image and perhaps damage its relations with Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer and a former French colony.
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