Cameroon Cocoa Grinders' Intake Rises on Year - NCCB

By Emmanuel Tumanjong

Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

YAOUNDE, Cameroon--The quantity of cocoa beans bought in Cameroon by the country's two major processors between August and March edged up compared with last year, figures released Tuesday by the industry showed.

According to information published by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board from the port city of Douala, the volume of cocoa beans bought for crushing between August and March was 27,362 tons, from 26,325 tons of the crop bought during the same period last season.

Cameroon's cocoa season officially runs from August to July.

The Cameroon unit of Barry Callebaut AG (BARN.EB), and Chococam, which is majority owned by Tiger Brands Ltd (TBS.JO) of South Africa, are the local processors. Barry Callebaut is represented locally by Societe Industrielle Camerounaise, or Sic Cacao S.A., of which Cameroon owns a 30% stake.

Sic Cacao bought 99 tons of cocoa beans for crushing in March this year, down from the 269 tons it bought in the same month of the last season. Chococam bought 54 tons of the crop in March, but had not bought any beans for grinding in March of the previous season.

In the 2011-2012 cocoa season, Sic Cacao and Chococam processed 29,924 tons of cocoa. The two firms bought 28,413 tons of cocoa beans for processing in the 2010-11 season, according to government data.

Chocolate, cocoa powder, cocoa cake and liquor produced by Sic Cacao is marketed mainly in Cameroon and its five neighboring countries in the Economic Community of Central African States.

Cameroon's cocoa output in the last 2011-2012 season was 210,034 tons, falling from a record 240,000 tons in the 2010-11 season, according to industry and government figures.

Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at [e-mail]

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