Anthony Nwakaegho /NaijaAgroNet
The National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB)
said that Cameroon farmers’ cocoa sales
declined to 45 per cent from a year ago having sold 6,619 tonnes of
cocoa beans for grinding in the first two months of the 2013/14 season, which
began on August 1.
It said the Cameroon’s cocoa production hit 228,948
tonnes in 2012/2013, but months of dry, cool weather in the cocoa-producing
Centre, South West and East Regions have sparked fears of a drop in production
in 2013/14,
The NCCB said that Sic-Cacaos ,Cameroon’s largest
grinder and a unit of Switzerland’s Barry Callebaut purchased 4,057 tonnes of cocoa in September
while Chocolaterie Confiserie du Cameroun (CHOCOCAM), the only other grinder in
the world’s fifth-largest cocoa grower, did not make any purchases.
In the first two months of the 2012/13 season, by
comparison, the two local grinders had purchased 11,984 tonnes, with Sic-Cacaos
accounting for 11,183 tonnes and CHOCOCAM for 801 tonnes.
NaijaAgroNet
learnt that Sic-Cacaos processes cocoa beans into cocoa cake powder and liquor
to be sold in the six-member Economic and Monetary Community of Central African
States (CEMAC), and CHOCOCAM, an affiliate of South Africa’s Tiger Brand,
manufactures chocolate that is sold only in Cameroon.
Both firms have announced plans to set up another
plant in the Ivory Coast this season, extend their markets, CHOCOCAM to the
other CEMAC countries and Sic-Cacaos to West Africa, particularly Nigeria.
NaijaAgroNet
also noted that Cameroon’s cocoa season runs from August 1 to July 31, with the
main harvest period from October to January/February and the light crop harvest
from April/May to July.
*With additional reports from Reuters
pix:President Paul Biya of Cameroon
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share ur views here