Rains seen cutting Jakarta cocoa output by 30%

Jakarta, July 25: Heavy rains in Indonesia's cocoa key growing area Sulawesi have battered the crop and are seen cutting this year's production to below 300,000 tonnes, traders said last week. Several traders in Sulawesi said output was expected to fall 30 per cent below the 325,000 tonnes target in calendar 1999 because of the rains sparked by the La Nina weather pattern.

The target was set by the Indonesian Cocoa Association (Askindo). "I think output will fall by 30 percent this year because of the rains. It's been very difficult to find beans and we have to face the reality there's something wrong with the crops," said one trader in Ujung Pandang, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi. Another said: "For sure, this year's crops have declined because every day we are talking about difficulties in getting the beans. Output may fall 30 percent below the target."

Sulawesi traders said rains had damaged cocoa pods in the plantation areas in the provinces of South, Central and Southeast Sulawesi whichaccount for nearly 80 percent of Indonesia's output. Several shipments from Ujung Pandang, which is the main export port in Sulawesi, have been delayed because exporters could not find enough beans, traders said. Daily arrivals were as little as 50 tonnes in July compared with 1,000 tonnes at the same period last year, they said.

Askindo has said Indonesia's cocoa production was estimated to reach 325,000 tonnes this year against 310,000 tonnes in 1998 because of the expansion of plantation areas. It said Indonesia exported 278,145 tonnes of cocoa beans in 1998. But some traders in Ujung Pandang said farmers were busy building new houses and buying electronic goods, rather than taking care of the crops, when prices of beans skyrocketted during the economic crisis.