Business
Cocoa Exports Fall 7% In Nigeria
Nigeria’s Cocoa exports stood at 134,344 tonnes between October 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009 seven per cent less than in the same period a year earlier, data gotten from the Federal Produce Inspection Service (FPIS), have shown.
On a monthly basis cocoa exports from the world’s fourth biggest grower rose 14 per cent year-on-year to 7,291 tonnes in May, the FPIS data indicated.
Dealers blamed the fall in experts from last year on the global economic crunch which has slashed international demand for the beans used to make ice cream, chocolate, butter, cake, liquor and cosmetics.
The economic meltdown and Nigeria’s worsening electricity problems have also forced many local processors, who compete for beans with exporters, to either close shop or cut production.
A member of warehouses in Lagos and the Southeaster port city of Calabar are well stocked with cocoa beans, but some exporters have not made no shipments for months due to weak interventional demand, dealers said.
Nigeria’s Oct-March 2008/2009 main crop exports fell 12.43 per cent to 116.778 tonnes compound with some period of the previous season, data from the FPIS showed.
The FPIS is the government agency that certifies cocoa beans and other farm produce fit for export, mainly to Western and Asian Markets.
May is the second month of Nigeria’s cocoa mid-crop, the smaller of two six-month harvest cycles that runs for April to September. It usually comes in at around 50,00-60,000 tonnes a year when conditions are good and chemicals readily available.
Industry experts say actual Nigerian cocoa export figures could be much higher than the official data because a member of exporters do not fully disclose their shipments at the port.
Nigeria produces about 300,000-350,000 tonnes of cocoa a year, according to estimates by the cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), a grouping of farmers, buyers, processors and exporters.
Industry sources say beans is smuggled across Nigerian borders by some exporters trying to take advantage of lower port charges in neighbouring countries.
About 10-15 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa output is shipped to Europe through Calabar.