Cocoa exporters in Ivory Coast said on Thursday pollution from toxic waste dumped around Abidjan and near its port where some shippers have warehouses was not hindering their operations or affecting bean quality.
The government in the world's top cocoa grower resigned on Wednesday after three people died and 1,500 became ill from inhaling fumes from the poisonous fuel slops which were unloaded from a ship and dumped around the densely-populated city.
President Laurent Gbagbo asked Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny to form a new cabinet on Thursday because of the scandal.
"We haven't had a problem with the pollution," said a salesman for an international cocoa exporter in Abidjan. "Beans are arriving as normal at the port and our warehouses are open. I don't think the pollution can have any affect on beans."
Workers at foreign exporter Barry Callebaut said the company had closed one its warehouses near Abidjan's vast port on Wednesday because staff exposed to the fumes felt unwell. But they said it had re-opened on Thursday.
One worker told Reuters there was no cocoa in the warehouse due to the seasonal lull between the mid crop which is now ending and the more productive main crop which officially begins on October 1.
The director of a European exporter told Reuters demonstrators who blocked roads on Wednesday in protest at the dumping of the waste had not affected operations during what is one of the quietest periods in the year in the industry. "We are open. We're working with no problem," he said. "There's no risk for us and it won't affect the cocoa beans.