Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached around 1,281,000 tonnes from October 1 to July 27, exporters estimated on Monday, up from 1,165,551 tonnes in the same period of the previous season. Exporters estimated around 7,000 tonnes of beans were delivered to the West African country's two ports in the week of July 21-27, up from 5,133 tonnes in the same week a year ago.
That compared with 7,779 tonnes of beans arriving at Abidjan and San Pedro ports in the previous week of this season, whose April-September mid crop harvest has tailed off in recent weeks with buying interest undermined by fears over poor bean quality.
Farmers and exporters are focusing increasingly on the coming main crop harvest, which officially runs from October-March but is widely expected to start early this year. "In my opinion, we will bottom out around August 15, and then things will pick up again at the start of September," said the director of a large European exporter in the main city Abidjan.
"There are a good number of pods which are growing steadily on the trees with the rains, which are still falling. That should mean a good supply," he said. "There is a good chance (the main crop) will start in September because we are already seeing early signs in the plantations," he said. The current mid-crop harvest has failed to meet expectations, with weekly volumes below those anticipated and disappointing quality due to small bean size and excessive mould and moisture due to sustained rains over recent weeks.
The premium paid by European physical traders for Ghanaian cocoa rose sharply last week to fears over the quality of Ivorian beans, traders told Reuters in Hamburg, Germany, last Friday. The premium for cocoa from Ghana - the world's second biggest grower, whose cocoa is regarded as being of higher quality than Ivorian cocoa - represents the price paid over corresponding London futures prices.
The director of another European exporter in Abidjan said Ivorian bean quality would likely improve once main-crop beans started coming out of the plantations. "Beans from the start of the season are always higher quality than those from later on. We really shouldn't worry about the main crop," he said.
"If there are no more rains than usual, quality will be good - not excellent, but good enough. It is when there are heavy rains that everything is ruined, because the farmers find it hard to store the beans for very long in good conditions and humidity and mould levels increase," he said.
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