Cocoa output in Indonesia, the world's third-largest producer, is seen down about 25 percent this year due to wet weather and disease and will improve in 2012 to a level below initial estimates, the Indonesian Cocoa Association (Askindo) said on Friday.
Indonesia has been grappling with pests and diseases for years. Heavy rains in the main growing island of Sulawesi have again triggered the spread of Vascular-streak Dieback (VSD), a disease that attacks branches, leaves and trunk, eventually killing the trees. Cocoa bean output is forecast at 450,000 tonnes in 2011, Askindo Chairman Zulhefi Sikumbang told a news conference.
In August, Askindo had pegged production at 400,000 tonnes. Indonesian output was about 600,000 tonnes last year. Better weather conditions are expected to lift production to 500,000 tonnes next year, Sikumbang said, but still below Askindo's July estimate at 600,000 tonnes. Indonesia, which accounts for about 10 percent of global cocoa output, is seen exporting 200,000-210,000 tonnes in 2011, he added. The Southeast Asian producer launched a $350 million programme in 2009 to boost cocoa output to more than 600,000 tonnes in four to five years. Exports were 320,000 tonnes in 2010.