Ivory Coast Cocoa-Growing Areas Get Some Respite After Floods

(Bloomberg) – Cocoa-growing areas in top-producer Ivory Coast received the lowest amount of rainfall in two months last week, following abundant precipitation which damaged the quality of beans and cut purchases.

Average rainfall was 3.7 millimeters (0.15 inch) a day in 15 cocoa-growing areas in the week ended July 12, according to CICO Services, an agronomy company, in the commercial capital Abidjan. That’s down from 12 millimeters a day the previous week. Combined precipitation dropped to 331 millimeters from 1,238 millimeters.

There was the least amount of rainfall in about two months, CICO said in its e-mailed weekly report. Exporters scaled back purchases in the second week of July, with some refusing to buy beans because the quality is “mediocre,” according to CICO. More trucks carrying beans were reported to have found no buyers this week than last, it said.

Downpours in the past month hurt the crop quality and damaged roads, preventing trucks from delivering beans from some farms to ports at San Pedro and Abidjan. Cocoa beans must be dried before they can be shipped, according to the report.

“The sun is back and the pods are maturing,” said Noel Kadio Kouame, a cocoa grower who owns 13 hectares (32 acres) in the eastern region of Agnibelekro. “This lull will favor better development of the plants.”