Promising cocoa harvest

FAVOURABLE weather in Ivory Coast’s main cocoa regions bodes well for the April-September midcrop harvest, farmers said, even though low international prices continued to dent demand.

The Harmattan, a northerly wind that blows dust off the Sahara between December and March, damaging crops to the south, so far remained mild, farmers said.

Last season, strong winds caused severe damage.

“It did not rain, but everything is fine on the trees. We still have a lot of pods to cut,” said Pascal Kobena, who farms in the Abengourou region, an area known for the good quality of its beans.

Farmers said low global prices had depressed demand from buyers, leading to mounting stockpiles of beans.

New York and London cocoa futures hit three-year lows last month on strong supply and forecasts of a global surplus next year.

Activity at the exporting port of Abidjan was slow because of low international prices.

This could impact picking towards the end of the month, said one farmer in the centre-western region of Daloa.

“The problem at the moment is that we cannot sell. Growers are worried because beans are coming out slowly,” Kobena said.

Still, the crop was progressing well. In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said one rainfall this month would ensure a healthy midcrop.

Good growing conditions were reported in southern regions of Aboisso, Agboville and Divo and in western region of Duekoue.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast hit 845 000 tons by December 31, since the start of the season on October 1, exporters estimated yesterday, up from 790 000 tons in the same period of the previous season.

Exporters estimated that in the week between December 26 and December 31, around 35 000 tons of beans were delivered to the port of Abidjan and 27 000 tons to the port in San Pedro. — Reuters