Cocoa arrivals at ports in the world's top grower, Ivory Coast, reached 1,181,497 tonnes between October 1 and June 8, up from 1,100,008 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from exporters on Friday.
The figures showed 19,487 tonnes of beans arrived at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro between June 2 and 8, down from 25,163 tonnes in the same week of the 2006/2007 season, but up from last week's level of 16,159 tonnes. Some exporters expressed hope that the upward trend could continue, after two consecutive weeks of rises.
"We hope to top 20,000 tonnes this week and why not even exceed 25,000 tonnes, which would be interesting," said one. Exporters have expressed disappointment in recent weeks that the April-September mid crop has been below expected levels, and they said there was little prospect of a dramatic improvement.
Prices have been kept down by concerns over quality, caused by high moisture levels due to rain and large numbers of small beans - which yield less valuable butter and other products when ground, and are processed locally rather than exported. "We are not expecting much this week and I think we will be around the same price range as last week," said one director of a European exporter based in Abidjan. "There is not a lot of activity at the moment."