Cameroon Aug-Dec grinder cocoa purchases up 38 pct

An report from Reuters said Cameroon’s only cocoa processing firm, SIC-Cacao, bought 22,025 tonnes of beans in the first five months of the 2008/09 season, up 38 percent from the same period last year, according to data from cocoa bodies on Wednesday.

Callebaut, had bought 15,981 tonnes by the same time last year, according to the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) and the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB).

Purchases from August to December of the 2008/09 season in the world’s fifth biggest grower surpassed those of the whole 2007/08 season, which stood at 21,936 tonnes.

Unlike nearby Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa grower, the Cameroonian harvest has flourished this season. Exports in the first five months were up 18 percent year-on-year at 116,006 tonnes, data showed last week.SIC Cacao, which processes cocoa beans into powder, cake and butter for sale in central Africa, wants to meet capacity of 33,000 tonnes, said purchasing director Valentin Foketchian. “We’ve already bought more beans in the first five months of this campaign than we bought for the whole of the last campaign, but this does not mean we will stop buying,” he said.
“We’ll continue to buy as long as there are beans on the market.”
The firm bought 4,642 tonnes of beans in December 2008, down slightly from 4,910 tonnes in December 2007. Its main customer is Douala-based CHOCOCAM, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Tiger Brands
The cocoa season in Cameroon runs from Aug. 1 to July 31.

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