Cocoa butter prices were mostly steady in Asia this week as purchases from chocolate makers resurfaced ahead of the Easter holidays, while powder for nearby delivery also attracted demand, dealers said on Friday. In the bean market, the mid-crop harvest will end soon in Indonesia's main growing island of Sulawesi, but most cocoa trees have already produced new pods, which are expected to ripen in the next few months.
"The mid-crop should be tailing off, so I guess the main crop will start in April or May because the weather has been favourable," said a dealer in Singapore who buys Indonesian beans. "I think the quality of the beans in the new crop will be better. We will probably see offers from Indonesia towards April. The mid-crop output is very low, but I don't expect much from it anyway."
The bean count currently stands at 120 to 130 beans per 100 grams, which is above the national standard of 110 beans. Bean counts measure quality, with a lower bean count indicating good quality beans. Indonesia's agriculture ministry expects cocoa output to rise to 1.3 million tonnes this year, from 712,230 tonnes in 2011, but the Indonesian Cocoa Association pegs production at around 500,000 tonnes this year versus 420,000 tonnes in 2011.
Indonesia, the world's third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, is still battling diseases such as pod borer and Vascular-streak Dieback, which attacks branches, leaves and trunks. Sulawesi cocoa exports were at 8,904.25 tonnes in January, down about 23 percent from 11,634.66 tonnes a year ago, data from the Indonesia Cocoa Association showed. December exports were at 12,051.72 tonnes.
"I don't think there will be a gap between the mid-crop and the main harvest. By mid-April, we will start harvesting again," said a dealer in Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi. "Quality is so-so, and the beans from the mid-crop are mouldy because it has rained a lot here." Indonesia mainly exports cocoa to Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and Brazil, where the beans are processed into powder and butter.