Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast were 13 percent higher than last season, data from the official marketing body obtained by Reuters on Tuesday showed, despite massive smuggling to Ghana. Arrivals reached 1,068,918 tonnes by May 15, up from 946,644 tonnes in the same period a year ago, the data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) showed.
The figures showed 11,336 tonnes of beans arrived at the two main cocoa exporting ports of Abidjan and San Pedro from May 9 to May 15, up from 9,310 tonnes in the same week of the 2009/2010 season. A further 1,581 tonnes of cocoa that had arrived in earlier weeks were declared late during this period.
Separately, exporters estimated on Tuesday that arrivals to May 22 reached 1,093,000 tonnes, compared with 966,194 tonnes in the same period last season, with an estimated 25,000 tonnes arriving between May 16 and May 22. "We saw a lot more beans at the ports than we expected because there's a lot of cocoa available and the mid-crop is at least as good as anyone predicted," said a the director of an Abidjan-based export company.
"We're not too worried about quantity, but on the other hand quality could pose a problem. Loads are arriving with mould because of the humidity." Ivory Coast has had favourable weather this 2010/11 season, which has boosted the cocoa crop. But a violent political crisis over a disputed November poll, which only began to subside when former president Laurent Gbagbo was captured last month, wrought havoc on the industry, shutting down exports for three months.
Western sanctions and a collapse of the banking system ground cocoa exports to a halt. They resumed on May 8, but there is a backlog of cocoa stocks to clear at ports. Cocoa stockpiled at ports reached 470,268 tonnes by March 31, according to the latest BCC data available on Tuesday.
Comments
Comments are closed.