Cocoa arrivals at Ivory Coast's ports have reached about 300,000 tonnes this season and are picking up as farmers sell to avoid deterioration of their beans after holding back previously, exporters and buyers said on Monday.
The volume of arrivals last week was estimated at 40,000-45,000 tonnes, up from 27,000 tonnes during the previous week when many growers unhappy with falling farmgate prices refused to sell their beans.
"Cocoa arrivals at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro have reached about 300,000 tonnes since the beginning of the season," the head of a European exporting company in Abidjan said.
"From the price point of view, the campaign is unstable even if production is excellent and farmers have no choice but to continue selling their beans even if they aren't happy with the prices," he added.
World prices had been falling during the last few weeks due to a healthy crop forecast and relative calm in the world's top cocoa grower since President Laurent Gbagbo's five-year mandate ended on October 30 without elections to choose a successor.
Any fall in world prices directly affects farmers, who were demanding the full 400 CFA francs ($0.712) per kilo guideline price set by the Ivorian Coffee and Cocoa Bourse in October.
Farmgate prices averaged about 360 CFA francs ($0.641) last week.
"Farmers in the bush are still asking for more money. They are finally accepting what we are offering them but it takes a long time to convince them and this slows purchases," said San Pedro-based independent buyer Adel Attie.
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