* World No. 2 producer seeks additional medium-term loan of $ 300 million

* Ghana and Ivory Coast to announce farmers’ prices on October 1

* Ghana’s 2017/18 production tally exceeds 900,000 tonnes (add talks for additional loan, concurrent pricing)

ACCRA, Sept.20 (Reuters) – Ghanaian company Cocobod on Thursday signed a $ 1.3 billion loan with international banks to finance bean purchases for the 2018/19 season and is seeking additional funds to increase agricultural productivity , said its director.

Joseph Boahen Aidoo said Cocobod is in talks with lenders for a $ 300 million medium-term facility to combat cocoa diseases, expand hand pollination and other agronomic practices to increase yield.

Ghana, the world’s second-largest producer, uses loans from international banks each year mainly to purchase beans. It aims to buy at least 900,000 tonnes of cocoa from farmers during the next season which starts early next month.

“We decided that we needed to have separate funding, outside of the annual facility, to continue the programs in the medium and long term. We have already had favorable conversations with the banks and this afternoon we are meeting to look at some of the arrangements, ”Aidoo said during a video call with reporters in Accra after Thursday’s signing in Amsterdam.

The annual loan, the largest pre-export commodity finance facility in sub-Saharan Africa, was oversubscribed by $ 550 million, or 42 percent. The main arrangers were Amro Bank, Bank of China, Standard Chartered Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Ghana International Bank.

Some 21 lenders have participated and Cocobod will repay over 12 months with an interest rate of Libor plus 0.625 percent. “Right now, we’re looking for $ 300 million from these banks to get started so that we can use it to tackle some of these long-term programs and challenges, such as irrigation that could help farmers easily double their production. “Aidoo said. Cocobod plans to withdraw the first tranche of the $ 1.3 billion unionized in early October to hand it over to buyers for purchases, he said. For the first time in decades, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire will simultaneously announce farmer producer prices on October 1, as part of an agreement to harmonize marketing and other industry activities , Aidoo said. Two senior Cocobod officials told Reuters that Ghana’s cocoa pricing committee had started meetings ahead of the Oct. 1 announcement, but declined to comment on whether there would be a price change. Ghana currently pays its farmers 7,600 cedis per tonne of cocoa. Aidoo said the purchase tally for the 2017/18 crop year, which closed on September 13, reached 903,000 tonnes, almost the same level as the previous season. (Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; editing by Jason Neely and Alexandra Hudson)