Poor weather has led to high levels of undersized beans

By Joe Bavier

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Top producer Ivory Coast will offer a temporary refund on mid-crop cocoa in a bid to stimulate purchasing that has been hampered by small bean size, the country's marketing board, the CCC, announced in a statement posted on its website.

Ivory Coast forward sold the bulk of the anticipated 2012/13 crop in order to fix a minimum guaranteed price for farmers as part of sweeping reforms that ended a decade of sector liberalisation.

However, exporters and local processors have complained that the price set for cocoa harvested during the April-September mid-crop failed to reflect the lower value of the smaller, lower quality beans.

"A refund on quality varying from 58 CFA to 130 CFA francs per kg is granted on all cocoa purchases with a bean count from 116 to 140 beans per 100 grammes," the CCC said in the statement.

The refund will apply to beans purchased during a roughly 40-day period from June 17 through July 31, the CCC said, adding that it would not affect the price paid to farmers which was fixed at 700 CFA francs/kg for the mid-crop.

The CCC set a maximum bean count - the measure of bean size - of 120 beans per 100g for beans exported during the mid-crop, though companies with local processing facilities can buy up to a bean count of 140 beans/100g.

But the CCC said both exporters and grinders had been reluctant to purchase cocoa above a bean count of 115 beans/100g.

While traders and analysts are predicting above-average output from the mid-crop, dry weather in the early months of this year has seen higher levels of undersized beans than in previous seasons.

Exporters said the CCC's decision to offer a refund was a step in the right direction but cautioned that it was probably not enough to pull Ivory Coast out of its current buying slump.

"I agree with what the CCC has done, but it's a drop in the ocean since we're not allowed to export over 120 (beans/100g)," said the director of a San Pedro-based export and processing company.

"Some grinders might buy up to 125 to mix in with the rest, but this isn't going to change my buying policy," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/poor-weather-led-high-levels-undersized-beans-143020364.html

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