Gains in cocoa futures and dwindling supplies lifted prices of Indonesian cocoa beans this week, but trading was thin as buyers awaited fresh supplies from the main harvest in March.
Prices of Sulawesi's fair-average cocoa beans were quoted at around 18,400-18,700 rupiah ($1.95-$1.98) a kilogram this week, up from 17,600-17,800 rupiah in January and in line with gains in cocoa futures on the New York Board of Trade. The March cocoa contract finished $32 lower at $2,154 per tonne on Wednesday, but was up from $2,120 a tonne on January 3.
"The cocoa futures eased overnight. But they have gained a lot in the past weeks, offering support to local prices," said a dealer at an exporting firm in Makassar, the key port for palm oil exports in South Sulawesi province.