Farmgate cocoa prices in Ivory Coast's main growing regions were little changed last week as concerns over quality led to sluggish buying, despite the official start of the mid-crop, farmers and buyers said on Tuesday. A dry spell lasting from November 2011 to March 2012 caused a drop in both delivery volumes and quality at the tail end of the October-to-March main crop.
It has also delayed the start of Ivory Coast's mid-crop, which is usually marketed from April to September in the world's top cocoa producer. Some exporters are choosing to wait for the arrival of new mid-crop beans expected in June and are rejecting current poor quality deliveries. In the western region of Soubre in the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said average prices rose slightly to between 500 CFA francs ($1.00) per kg and 575 CFA, compared with 500 CFA to 550 CFA the previous week as local buyer activity grew ahead of anticipated exporter demand.
"The price range has gone up a bit. Lots of local warehouses have begun buying again, because they say demand from exporters will grow from the end of the month," said Salam Kone, who farms near Soubre. "Since the beans are small (in size), the buyers are sorting them and keeping only the volumes that allow them to make good profits," Kone said. Prices remained stagnant or even fell, however, in other growing regions. In the centre-western region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers said the average price remained stable at 500 CFA francs as prices were little changed at the port of Abidjan and some buyers' warehouses.
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