Ghana's cocoa purchases 54 percent above last year's levels

Official cocoa purchases from Ghana are running 54 percent above last year's levels and the No 2 grower's output is already nearing the full-season's target, with several months of the harvest still to come. Purchases declared by private buyers to Ghana's industry regulator Cocobod hit 822,732 tonnes by April 28 since the start of the season in October, according to official data seen on Monday.
The purchases, which covered 30 weeks of the 33-week main crop season, put Ghana in reach of its 850,000-tonne record target for the whole 2010-2011 season. Total purchases for the week jumped to 24,885 tonnes from 16,784 tonnes in the previous week, according to the data. Cocobod has said it is reviewing the target but no details of any new figure have been released.