Indonesia's cocoa bean exports from the key-producing island of Sulawesi rose 12 percent in February from the same month a year ago, as exporters rushed to ship beans to avoid the potential for higher export taxes, industry data showed on Friday. Indonesia, the world's third largest producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, shipped 9,871.4 tonnes of cocoa beans from Sulawesi in February, compared to 8,804.78 tonnes a year earlier.
"Shipments increased in February because some exporters anticipated that the export tax would be higher in March," said Dakhri Sanusi, secretary general of the Indonesian Cocoa Association. Indonesia kept its export tax for cocoa beans unchanged at 10 percent for March but increased the base export price to $3,021 a tonne. This means exporters pay $302 in tax for each tonne of cocoa shipped, a 13 percent increase from the previous month.
The exports in February, traditionally a low month, were below the 11,634.66 tonnes shipped in January. Despite wet weather, the main harvest in Sulawesi is expected to start on time in April with better quality beans, traders have said. This harvest accounts for 75 percent of Indonesia's total output and traditionally runs from April to June, and then is followed by a smaller harvest in October-December.
Traders expected cocoa output from Indonesia would be in a range of 500,000-530,000 tonnes for the October 2010/September 2011 crop year, though there were risks of a downward revision because of rains, ageing trees and pest attacks or disease. An expected lower crop from Indonesia this year may compound worries about supply following unrest in top producer Ivory Coast.
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