Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast have reached around 1,090,000 tonnes by August 1 since the start of the season in October, according to exporters' estimates on Monday. If the estimate holds true, that would put cocoa arrivals 2.2 percent below the 1,114,848 tonnes that arrived in the same period of the previous season.
Ivory Coast produces about a third of the world's cocoa, but output is on track to hit its lowest since at least the 2004-05 season as plantations suffer years of underinvestment in the wake of a civil war. Exporters said around 8,000 tonnes of beans were delivered to the West African state's two ports from July 26 to August 1, down from 11,895 tonnes in the same week a year ago.
They added that the quality of the beans remained poor after recent heavy rains made it difficult for farmers to properly dry their harvests. A disappointing crop during the 2008-09 season helped drive cocoa prices to 30-year highs. Cocoa exporters generally estimate arrivals by counting the number of trucks arriving in the ports of San Pedro and Abidjan. Their estimates tend to be ready days before official data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) become available.
The latest BCC figures seen by Reuters showed 1,082,910 tonnes had arrived in ports from the start of the season through July 25, down about 1.8 percent from the 1,102,953 tonnes in the same period a year ago. Analysts have said Ivory Coast arrivals figures may also overstate the country's production by tens of thousands of tonnes due to an increase in smuggling this year from neighbouring Ghana, where prices are lower.