Cocoa beans and products declared for export by shippers at Ivory Coast ports since the start of the 2004/05 (October-September) season reached 206,177 tonnes by December 3, official data showed on Monday. That compared with 245,569 tonnes by the same time last year, a fall of 16 percent. The data showed 47,716 tonnes were shipped between November 29 and December 3.
A shipping manager at Saga, Ivory Coast's largest shipper of cocoa, said activity at ports had returned to normal after rioting in Abidjan early last month but said a shortage of freight capacity was now slowing up exports.
"I have 10,000 tonnes of (clients') cocoa ready to export but we are fully booked up for December. I will have to wait until January because all the boats will be full until then," he said.
Violence flared in the world's top cocoa grower in November after France crippled the Ivorian air force in response to the bombing of a French peacekeeping base by a government warplane. Thousands of foreigners fled as riots continued for days after.
One port official in Abidjan said higher insurance premiums for shippers working in Ivory Coast meant some firms were making fewer stops in the West African state but said shipping capacity had not been significantly affected.
"With the increase in insurance this year because of the situation here, maritime companies would rather send one large ship with higher capacity than several smaller ones.
"Because of the crisis, the number of ships arriving in the ports has fallen compared to last year. The number of ships can go down but the volume is more or less the same," he said.
The manager of a European exporter based in Abidjan said an increasing supply of beans following a slow start to 2004/05 was also increasing demand for space on vessels at the ports.
"There is a very high demand for freight and it is true that there is some overbooking at the moment. As the season is late, it is now that the cocoa is really starting to arrive at the ports," he said.
"We have loaded up all the cocoa we planned for December but others have problems loading up because of the lack of ships."
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