By Emmanuel Tumanjong
YAOUNDE, Cameroon--Cocoa beans bought by Cameroon's two key
industrial crushers between August and June of the 2012-2013 season
rose compared with the same period in the previous season, data
released Wednesday by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board
showed.
The figures indicated that 29,291 tons of cocoa beans were
collectively bought during the period, up from 26,857 tons bought
at the same time of the previous season.
Cameroon's cocoa season officially runs from August through July
of the subsequent year.
The Cameroon affiliate of Switzerland-based Barry Callebaut AG
and Chococam, which is majority owned by South Africa's Tiger
Brands Ltd., are the local cocoa grinders. Barry Callebaut is
represented locally by Societe Industrielle Camerounaise, or Sic
Cacao S.A.
Sic Cacao's June cocoa consumption stood at 1,291 tons, but no
beans were bought during the same month in the previous season.
Chococam bought no cocoa in June 2013 and registered no intake for
June 2012.
Chocolate, cocoa powder, cocoa cake and liquor produced by Sic
Cacao is marketed mainly in Cameroon and its five neighboring
countries in the Economic Community of Central African States.
Cameroon's cocoa output in the 2011-2012 season was 210,034
tons, falling from a record 240,000 tons in the 2010-11 season,
according to industry and government figures.
Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at
realtimedesklondon@dowjones.com
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