By Emmanuel Tumanjong
Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
YAOUNDE, Cameroon--Cameroon's cocoa bean crushers bought less
crop for grinding 10 months into the ongoing season compared to the
previous season, as crushers stopped buying cocoa during the lull
period between the main crop and midcrop harvests, according to
statistics published Friday by the country's chief commodity
watchdog.
The two factories processing cocoa in Cameroon are Sic Cacao,
the Cameroon affiliate of Switzerland-based Barry Callebaut AG
(BARN.EB), and South Africa's Tiger Brand (TBS.JO), owner of
Chocolaterie Confiserie du Cameroun, or Chococam. Their total cocoa
consumption between August and May stood at 25,580 metric tons,
down from 30,820 tons they bought during the same period last
season of August to July.
Sic Cacao bought 23,979 tons of the crop and Chococam bought the
remainder 1,601 tons, according to the National Cocoa and Coffee
Board, or NCCB. A Sic Cacao official said the company's intake
dropped because they withdrew buyers from the farmgates during the
hibernating period of March and April.
"But since we've invested to increase the amount of cocoa we
grind, we'll keep our buyers at the farmgates during the next
season," the official said.
Barry Callebaut has invested 4.8 billion Central African francs
as it plans to increase its cocoa beans intake in the 2015-2016
cocoa season to 50,000 tons yearly.
Government and industrial figures show that chocolate, cocoa
powder, cocoa cake and liquor produced by Sic Cacao and Chococam
are marketed mainly in the European Union, Cameroon, and its five
neighboring countries in the Economic Community of Central African
States.
The country exported 158,311 tons of beans during the 2013-2014
season, down from 201,563 tons in the previous season, when output
nosedived to 209,905 tons, according to industry data. A total of
228,911 tons of cocoa beans was harvested in the 2012-2013
season.
Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at
realtimedesklondon@dowjones.com
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