Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 828,000 tonnes by March 8, exporters estimated on Tuesday, compared with 1,023,527 tonnes in the same period of the previous season. Exporters estimated around 12,000 tonnes of beans were delivered to the West African states two ports between March 2 and March 8, down from 14,343 tonnes in the same week a year ago.
That compared with 18,948 tonnes of beans arriving at Abidjan and San Pedro ports in the previous week. "Its the end of the main crop and were not expecting high volumes, but compared with last year we were expecting the fall to be less steep than what were seeing at the moment," said an executive at a major cocoa shipper in Abidjan. Buyers attention was focused on the mid crop, which runs from April to September, and may in part compensate for a main crop that has far undershot last years harvest.
Worries about a small Ivorian crop have helped underpin world cocoa prices, which have outperformed several other commodities in recent months. Cocoa futures for delivery in May were quoted at 1,782 pounds per tonne in London on Tuesday, up slightly from the start of the year.
"Were expecting a lot of this mid crop," said the purchasing manager of a European cocoa grinder. "Our partners in the bush are reporting that pods are ripening, and lots of pods will be ready to harvest in the first week of April," he said.
On Monday, farmers and buyers said favourable weather conditions would support a mid crop of around 350,000 tonnes, up from last years 315,000 tonne harvest. Exporters said on Tuesday they shared that optimism. "This year, during the mid crop there will be more good quality beans for export," said an international cocoa shipper.
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