Brazil's 2009/10 (May/April) cocoa arrivals including imports came to 2.83 million 60-kg bags by December 20, down 0.7 percent from this time last year, Bahia Commercial Association said. Deliveries were barely changed from this week last year in the main cocoa-producing state of Bahia at 35,151 60-kg bags, but were down about a quarter in other states, where arrivals summed 7,595 bags.
Imports during the week totalled 77,034 bags and were the first foreign purchases registered since late October. Cocoa analyst Thomas Hartmann said arrivals had been low during the week from within Brazil. Persistent dryness in Bahia continued for another week and could threaten the next of the two annual cocoa harvests, he said. But showers are forecast to arrive from Friday onwards.
"The lack of rainfall with the exception of very scant and sparse showers continued to harm the cocoa plantations in Bahia," Hartmann said, adding the effect it would have on production was not yet clear. Farm gate prices had been volatile during the week, trading anywhere between 90 and 98 reais (US $51.34-$55.90) as cocoa futures recoiled after fluttering around their highest price in 30 years.
Brazil, like the world cocoa hub of West Africa, is now gathering its main cocoa crop, the larger of two crops which cocoa trees produce in a year. In Brazil, "main crop" has become a misnomer as the mid-crop is now usually the larger. Brazil was once the world's No 2 cocoa producer, a rank since claimed by Ghana.
Production in the Latin American nation was slashed in the 1990s by the fungal witch's broom disease. It now ranks sixth among the world's growers. Rather than feeding into world supply, Brazil's domestic production data serve as an indicator of how much extra cocoa it is likely to import to top up its own supply.
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