According to local reports and international news wires, authorities are attempting to restart the marketing chain through emergency stock purchases and a recalibration of the crop calendar designed to allow a lower regulated mid-crop price. At the same time, port data suggest beans are beginning to move again, even as season-to-date arrivals still trail last year.
Arrivals Accelerate But Remain Behind Last Season
Port arrivals data show improving physical flows in recent weeks.
Season-to-date arrivals reached roughly 1.335 million tonnes as of 1 March, about 3.7% below the same point last season, according to trade data cited by Reuters.
Advertisement
However, the most recent weekly figures indicate stronger momentum. Arrivals for the week ending 1 March totalled roughly 28,000 tonnes — around 15,000 tonnes in Abidjan and 13,000 tonnes in San Pedro — compared with approximately 18,000 tonnes during the same week last year, according to figures circulated among traders and reported by Reuters.
The data present what traders describe as a “two-speed” market signal.
In the near term, stronger weekly arrivals suggest cocoa is beginning to move again, potentially as exporters and cooperatives rush shipments ahead of policy changes. But the cumulative deficit versus last season suggests the main crop is not dramatically larger than previously expected.