The cocoa grind in the Ivory Coast was down 19.8% year-on-year in April amid heatwaves impacting growth in the country’s rainy season.
According to the exporters’ association GEPEX, the grind was at 41,019 metric tonnes on Friday.
The total grind from the start of the 2023/24 season in October stood at 380,031 tonnes of cocoa beans by the end of April.
This was down 8.9% from the same point last season.
The GEPEX data covers six of the largest grinding companies including Barry Callebaut, Olam and Cargill Inc.
The Ivory Coast has a total grinding capacity of 712,000 tonnes.
It is the top producer in the world for cocoa and it competes with the Netherlands as the leading grinder.
The cocoa market has faced a turbulent few months due to concerns about growing conditions.
In late April, world cocoa prices fell by 20% in two days amid low liquidity, but quickly recovered.
After an exceptionally dry and warm April, cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast said they expected crop growth to improve from May as rain picked up.
Farmers in the country added that this change in weather conditions should boost crops for the April to September growing period.
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