Cameroon's cocoa bean exports between August and November were 75,949 tonnes, up 19 percent on the same period last year, according to data released late on Wednesday by cocoa bodies in the world's fifth biggest grower. Shipments in the first four months of the 2007/08 season were 63,713 tonnes, and cocoa officials expect this season's harvest to exceed last year's.
Exports in November, the fourth month of the 2008/09 season, were up 16 percent year-on-year at 37,134 tonnes, figures from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) and the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB) showed.
"This confirms what we have said before, that production will be higher this 2008/09 season compared to the previous campaign thanks to very favourable weather conditions," said the NCCB's chief of operations, Andre Marie Lema. Cameroon's cocoa season runs from August 1 to July 31 of the following year.