Average prices paid to farmers for cocoa beans in Ivory Coast were mixed in most major growing areas in the week of March 1-8, official data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) showed on Tuesday.
The front month dropped 39 pounds to 826 pounds per tonne from March 1-8 on the London Market amid expectations of a good main crop from Ivory Coast and other major producers.
Ivory Coast's main crop in 2003/04 (October-March) is forecast at some 1.080 million tonnes, according to analysts at Credit Lyonnais Rouse (CLR), with smuggling into neighbouring Ghana seen at 70,000 tonnes this season.
Below are average farmgate prices quoted by private buyers, co-operatives and shippers published weekly by the BCC. Prices paid on delivery at San Pedro and Abidjan ports were not available for the period.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1,009,287 tonnes between the start of the 2003/04 (October-September) campaign and February 29, official data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) showed on Tuesday.
That compared with 1,018,266 tonnes delivered to ports during the same period of the 2002/03 season, according to official BCC data.