Soaring cocoa futures pushed Indonesian cocoa bean prices to their highest level in 24 years on Friday while rains in parts of cocoa-growing Sulawesi island slowed delivery, dealers said Friday.
Sulawesi's fair-average cocoa beans were offered at 25,250-25,750 rupiah ($2.71-$2.76) a kg on Friday, up from 23,000-23,500 rupiah at the end of May as New York cocoa futures set contract highs at 28-year peaks on Thursday. Spot ICE July cocoa settled up $54 at $2,971 a tonne, after trading as high as $2,988 a tonne, a level last seen in early 1980.
"This is the highest in 24 years for local prices. Concerns about a global supply deficit have lifted local prices and cocoa futures to multi-year highs," said Zulhefi Sikumbang, secretary general of the Indonesia Cocoa Association. "Our production doesn't have much impact on global prices," Sikumbang said.
Investment bank Fortis in a monthly report said last week it expected a third successive global cocoa deficit in 2008/09, projecting a slightly smaller shortfall of 21,000 tonnes, down from 29,000 tonnes in 2007/08. Meanwhile, rains in cocoa-growing areas in Sulawesi island which supply 75 percent of Indonesia's cocoa bean output, have hampered delivery amid the main harvest season.
Delivery of cocoa beans from plantations to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province and a key port for Indonesia's cocoa beans exports, averaged 300 tonnes a day this week, falling sharply from around 700 tonnes a day at the end of May. "Rains hampered farmers from harvesting cocoa pods. It has also caused many cocoa pods to rot in the tree," said a cocoa trader in a local trading firm in Makassar.
"The beans quality is not good because many cocoa pods contain flat beans," the dealer said, adding dealers still found plenty small beans measuring 120 beans 100 gram, above the national standard of 110 beans per 100 gram. Bean count is used to measure quality. Lower bean count indicates good quality cocoa bean. The main harvest in Sulawesi normally starts in March, peaking in May-June and tapers off in July.
The wet weather has sparked fears it may worsen the spread of vascular-streak dieback (VSD) - a deadly fungal disease which attacks leaves, branches and trunks. The cocoa association has cut cocoa beans output from Indonesia, the world's third largest producer, to 500-520,000 tonnes this year from an earlier forecast of 570,000 tonnes. Despite slowing delivery, overseas demand started flowing in although high prices have stirred little buying interest from local grinders.
"With prices so high, I don't think grinders are interested in buying at the moment," another Makassar dealer said. But on exports, a vessel from Brazil is on the way to Makassar and is expected to load about 16,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, dealers said. Cocoa beans are sold to grinders for processing into butter and cake, which is later pressed into powder for making chocolate, cakes, beverages and ice cream.