The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), Ivory Coast's marketing board, had obtained an average free-on-board price of 1,330 CFA francs ($2.27) per kilogram at the auctions so far, the sources said.

The CCC began selling next season's crop last September but reduced the volumes available at auction between October and February, when cocoa futures in London and New York were at their lowest levels.

World prices have dropped by roughly a third since last year.

"Yes, the market is down, but the CCC always sells at 30, 40 or 50 pounds ($39-$64) a tonne above the market price, so that has allowed us to have good prices via the auctions," one of the sources said.

The two sources said that the volumes already sold included international contracts agreed directly between the CCC and clients, rather than with exporters.

Those contracts are expected to increase from 220,000 tonnes this season to 300,000 tonnes next season as the CCC reduces the auction access of small domestic exporters after many of them defaulted on export contracts this year.