Ivory Coast January-October cotton exports down 46 percent

Exports of cotton from Ivory Coast totalled 91,657 tonnes from January to October 2011, down more than 46 percent compared with the same month last year, provisional port data showed on Friday. The sharp fall was the result of a violent post-electoral conflict, which shut down exports for three months this year, traders said. Most cotton is grown in the formerly rebel-held north, but the only ports for shipping it are in the south.