Indonesia's cocoa bean imports for 2019 are expected to increase to 280,000 to 300,000 tonnes, an Indonesian Cocoa Industry Association official told Reuters on Thursday, as chocolate products become more popular in the domestic market.
The rise in shipments would be an increase from this year's estimated imports of 260,000 tonnes, Sindra Wijaya, secretary general of the association, said in an interview on Thursday. In 2017, the country imported 226,613 tonnes of cocoa beans, association data showed.
The local cocoa industry is expected to mill 5-10 percent more beans next year, Wijaya said, up from this year's 500,000 tonnes because of higher local demand for chocolate products. "Domestically, chocolate drink franchises are mushrooming, and a lot of new brands of chocolate bars are emerging, that's why domestic consumption is increasing," Wijaya said.
Domestic consumption of cocoa beans next year is forecast to increase to around 150,000 tonnes, up from 140,000 tonnes estimated for 2018. Meanwhile, Indonesia's own output of cocoa beans this year is expected to fall to 230,000 tonnes due to declining yields from the country's aging trees. That compares to around 260,000 tonnes of beans produced in 2017. "We are still facing a supply crisis," Wijaya said. "Trees are old, over 30 years old, and pest problems are not fully resolved yet."
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