Brazil's import of cocoa jumped to 37 tonnes from January through May compared with 11 tonnes over the same period last year as domestic output of the commodity fell due to poor rains in producing regions. It was the highest volume of imports over the period since 2013, according to trade ministry data. The surge in imports comes after dry weather in Brazil's main producing state Bahia and irregular rains in its northern cocoa regions hurt local output.
Brazil's main crop output fell to 72,267 tonnes in 2015/16 down 23 pct from 93,530 tonnes the prior season, according to the Bahia Commercial Association. The arrivals of cocoa from Bahia over the fist seven weeks of the 2016/17 main crop season are currently a paltry 13,939 tonnes, down 61 pct from arrivals a year ago over the same weeks, the association said. Brazil has a population of roughly 200 million people and used to be a major cocoa exporter several decades ago before Witch's Broom disease devastated output of the main ingredient to chocolate.