Cocoa Shipments Surge 88% Ahead of Holidays

Cocoa bean exports from Sulawesi, the nation’s main growing region for the commodity, jumped 88 percent in November from the previous month on rising demand before the holiday season.

Shipments from central and south Sulawesi provinces, which account for about four-fifths of the country’s output, soared 88 percent to 33,329 metric tons last month from 17,704 tons in October, the Indonesian Cocoa Association (Askindo) said on Monday. Sales were also higher than 23,769 tons in the year earlier-period.

“Exporters boosted shipments to meet year-end contracts,” Halim Razak, Askindo’s chairman, said by phone from Makassar. “Purchases by buyers from Malaysia and Brazil helped last month’s sales.”

Increased supply may help to arrest the price of the chocolate ingredient, which has risen 25 percent this year on concern production will trail demand for a fourth year.

Cocoa futures for March delivery slipped $31, or 0.9 percent, to $3,345 a ton on Monday.

Bloomberg

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