Cocoa deliveries to Brazilian traders' and grinders' warehouses so far this season are around 11 percent below the year-ago period, data from Bahia Commercial Association showed on Wednesday. Deliveries recorded for the past week were inflated by the addition of cocoa purchases one large trader had not declared in the previous week due to technical problems.
This year's cumulative arrivals also fell further behind last year's due to 122,922 tonnes of cocoa imported into Brazil this time a year ago, the data showed. Brazil is now well into its mid crop harvest, estimated at between 900,000 and 1.1 million 60-kg bags or 54,000 to 66,000 tonnes.
Total Brazilian cocoa product exports for the month of June reached 5,358 tonnes of mostly unsweetened powder and butter, as well as smaller amounts of cake and liquor. Included in the total were 49 tonnes of unprocessed cocoa beans. Those exports, valued at $21.2 million, were down 12 percent in volume from the 6,122 tonnes shipped in June 2010.
Farm gate prices in Bahia picked up in the week, and were in the range of 78-81 reais ($49.84-$51.76), compared with 76-78 reais per 15-kg arroba in the previous week. Brazil ranks sixth among the world's cocoa growers but was No. 2 until the early 1990s when witch's broom disease devastated its plantations, slashing output by more than half.