Nigeria cocoa exports drop 18%

Nigerian cocoa exports dropped by 18 percent to 72,731 tonnes in the three months to December 2010 partly due to low bean quality caused by a prolonged rainy season.

Heavy rains in the main growing regions affected bean quality and slowed down the evacuation of the chocolate-making ingredient to the main port cities of Lagos and Calabar.

The Cocoa Association of Nigeria estimates Nigeria’s cocoa output at around 300,000-350,000 tonnes a year, but government officials put the figure higher, at 400,000-450,000 tonnes.

Nigeria’s cocoa exports fell 28 percent to 12,935 tonnes in October, the first month of the 2010/11 season but rebounded in November, rising 11 percent year-on-year to 30,647 tonnes.

While rainfall is good for the trees, it makes it difficult for farmers to ferment and dry beans and keep mould levels below a required maximum of 5 percent, industry experts said.

Commodity analyst Robo Adhuze said: “Not much is happening in the market,”

“There is little stock on the trees but plenty of stock in the warehouses because buying and selling has been slow.”

The Federal Produce Inspection Service (FPIS) data showed that on a monthly basis, cocoa shipments from the world’s number four grower slumped 33 percent to 29,149 tonnes in December 2010 from 43,585 tonnes in the same month of the 2009/10 season.

(Source: http://www.compassnewspaper.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1797:nigeria-cocoa-exports-drop-18-&catid=1:agriculture&Itemid=509)