Cocoa grindings in Malaysia, Asia's largest grinder, fell 4 percent to 72,089 tonnes in the second quarter of 2011 from the same period last year, the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) said on Friday. But grindings in the first half of this year rose 3.3 percent, the MCB said in a statement.
"Cocoa grindings for the second quarter of this year were also down by 11.5 percent against the first quarter," it said. "Overall, cocoa grinding performance in Malaysia for the first half of 2011 showed an increase of 3.3 percent as compared to the same corresponding period of 2010."
The MCB gave no further details. Malaysian cocoa grindings for the first quarter of 2011 increased to 81,419 tonnes from 73,498 tonnes in the same period of 2010. While grindings in Malaysia dropped, Europe's second quarter cocoa grind rose 8.3 percent on the same period a year earlier to 355,593 tonnes, the Brussels-based European Cocoa Association said on Thursday. The rise in Europe was higher than analysts and dealers had expected.