Indonesian cocoa exports down

Cocoa bean exports from Indonesias main producing island of Sulawesi 2.2 percent to 45,483 tonnes in the first three months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, trade data showed on Monday. In March alone, exports dropped 23 percent to 11,648 tonnes from a year ago due to tight stocks. Indonesia is the worlds third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Exporters ran out of stocks in March after shipping around 12,000 tonnes of beans to the United States the previous month, said Herman Agan, head of the local chapter of the Indonesian Cocoa Association, Askindo, in Palu, Central Sulawesi. International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) estimated Indonesias cocoa output to rise to 510,000 tonnes in 2008/09 (October-September) from 495,000 tonnes in the previous year due to increasing production in new areas.