Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1,076,202 tonnes by July 18 since the start of the season in October, according to data from the official marketing body BCC obtained by Reuters. That is down about 1.4 percent from the 1,091,573 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from Bourse du Cafe et Cacao (BCC) obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The figures showed 7,644 tonnes of beans arrived at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro between July 12 and July 18, down from 15,886 tonnes in the same week of the 2008/2009 season. Ivory Coast produces about a third of the world's cocoa, but output is on track to hit its lowest since at least the 2004-05 season as plantations suffer years of underinvestment in the wake of a civil war.
A disappointing crop during the 2008-09 season helped drive cocoa prices to 30-year highs. Farmers and exporters have said arrivals this season have been slowed recently in part by poor quality after a stretch of rainy weather made beans difficult to properly dry.
Analysts have said Ivory Coast's arrivals figures could also overstate the country's production by tens of thousands of tonnes due to an increase in smuggling this year from neighbouring Ghana, where prices are lower.
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