JAKARTA: Cocoa output in Indonesia, the world's third largest producer, fell 58 percent to 240,000 tonnes in 2011 from 575,000 tonnes last year, said the chairman of Indonesia's cocoa association.
The output is below industry expectation at 450,000 tonnes as the country grapples with pests and disease.
"At least eight grinders have suspended operations because of financial constraints and problems with marketing," chairman Zulhefi Sikumbang told reporters late on Thursday by email.
Exports also fell more than 51 percent this year to 207,000 tonnes from 430,000 tonnes last year, said Sikumbang, adding that grinding was still low at 240,000 tonnes despite a capacity of 629,000 tonnes.
Indonesia, the world's third-largest producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, launched a $350 million programme in 2009 to boost production to more than 600,000 tonnes within four to five years but it has yet to show results.
Bad weather, a failure by growers to follow advice on planting techniques and mismanagement have hampered the campaign, according to industry officials.
Wet weather wreaked havoc on the crop this year and brought back Vascular-streak Dieback (VSD) disease to plantations across the main growing island of Sulawesi, killing trees and curbing exports since at least March.
Cocoa exports from Sulawesi almost doubled in November, the first monthly increase since June, as the mid-crop progressed, but shipments still fell by more than 40 percent from the same month last year.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.