Rainfall This Week Set to Help Cocoa Crop in Ivory Coast, Ghana

Rainfall This Week Set to Help Cocoa Crop in Ivory Coast, Ghana

Rain in cocoa-producing countries in
West Africa this week is set to help the development of the mid-
crop, the smaller of two annual harvests that usually starts in
April.
Most of Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s largest cocoa
producers, will get 10 millimeters to 20 millimeters (0.4 inches
to 0.8 inches) of rain through to Feb. 26, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Precipitation
in some areas of both countries will be as much as 50
millimeters, data on the NOAA’s website show.
“Early indications about the mid-crop are turning
positive,” Keith Flury, an analyst at Rabobank International in
London, wrote in a report e-mailed yesterday. “Many pod
counters continue to suggest a potentially good harvest, and now
negative weather conditions are moderating.”
Cocoa climbed 10 percent in London this year on speculation
dry conditions since mid-December would hurt the development of
the crops. The dry harmattan winds from the desert are stronger,
according to Antoine Koffi Kouassi, an agro-meteorology engineer
at the Ivory Coast’s National Meteorological Service.
The central-western Daloa region, Ivory Coast’s biggest
growing area, received some rain earlier this month, with the
Daloa weather station registering rainfall of 15.8 millimeters
from Feb. 1 to 10. The region
produces an average 300,000 metric tons a year of cocoa.
The south-western Soubre region in Ivory Coast, which
produces about 300,000 tons annually, also received rainfall,
with the towns of San Pedro getting 15.1 millimeters, Sassandra
12.6 millimeters and Tabou 37.3 millimeters, the data show.

Cocoa Production

In Ghana, the western region, which accounts for about 55
percent of the country’s output, also received rains from Feb. 1
to 10 . The town of Bogoso got as much as
51.9 millimeters, according to the data.
Ivory Coast and Ghana will produce 2.2 million tons of
cocoa together in the 2011-12 season started in October,
according to Rabobank. The two countries accounted for 58
percent of global output last season, data from the London-based
International Cocoa Organization show. Production may be higher
than the current forecast, Flury said in yesterday’s report.
Cocoa will average 1,650 pounds ($2,616) a ton in London in
the second quarter, 1,700 pounds a ton in the third and 1,650 in
the fourth, according to Rabobank’s forecasts. Cocoa for March
delivery rose 0.8 percent to 1,517 pounds a ton on NYSE Liffe by
10:06 a.m. in London.