Cocoa bean exports from Sulawesi, Indonesia's main source, fell 24 percent in August from a year ago as traders held on to stocks due to lower prices and as trade slowed in the fasting month, an industry official said on Monday.
But exports are expected to pick up again in September as there will be big shipments to the United Stated, said Dakhri Sanusi, secretary general of Indonesian Cocoa Association. Cocoa shipments from Sulawesi island, which supplies 75 percent of Indonesia's cocoa production, fell to 36,167.56 tonnes in August, from 47,527.16 tonnes a year ago, trade data showed.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, will celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramazan this week. "Trading activity is slower during Ramazan and some traders may have hold back from selling beans because prices have eased lately," Sanusi told Reuters.
"But we expect big shipments to the United States this month of around 18,000 tonnes. That will lift cocoa beans exports," he said, adding that the September export figures are likely to get an additional boost from traders selling out stocks to get cash for Eid al Fitr holiday, which starts this week.
Cocoa bean exports in the January-August period rose 8.6 percent to 191,479.44 tonnes, from 176,311.98 tonnes a year ago, reflecting lower domestic consumption despite an export tax applied to beans exports since April 2010. The Indonesian government slapped an export tax on locally grown cocoa beans in April in an effort to encourage the retention of fermented beans for local refining.
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