Sluggish Nigeria cocoa trading is expected to pick up within two weeks when the mid crop harvest begins in the main cocoa growing region, traders said.

There has been a lull in business in the world’s fourth biggest cocoa grower since March, as buyers shunned the market, citing poor quality and low bean counts in peripheral cocoa growing regions.

Ondo State accounts for around 40 per cent of Nigeria’s annual production of about 200,000 tonnes, and its mid crop harvest will start in mid-June.

"Business is still dull because quality beans are scarce. I bought three bags (100 kg sacks) yesterday instead of the 10 tonnes I wanted," said Jacob Abiodun, a licensed agent, who buys beans upcountry for Lagos-based exporters.

"Things should pick up in the next two-to-three weeks when the light crop from Ondo begins," he said. The mid crop is also known as the light crop because the beans are lighter and cheaper than the main crop harvested from October to February.

He said bean count for Ondo cocoa would be around 250-260 grams per 300 beans compared with 180-200 grams for the mid crop from other states.
"We are still not in the market, but we should start buying by mid-June," said one international trader in Lagos.

Traders said there was little impact from a two-day sit-at-home strike on Monday and Tuesday, called by trade unions to protest against last month’s flawed elections, which coincided with two days of public holidays to mark the inauguration of a new government.

Cocoa arrivals to the port city of Lagos, Nigeria’s main export route, fell 53 per cent against last year to 4,000 tonnes in April, according to an average of estimates by exporters.
The sharp decline in arrivals, which is in line with the trend since October when the 2006/07 season began in Nigeria, changed little in May, traders said.

Nigeria’s mid crop, which is estimated at 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes when the weather is favourable, is seen coming in much lower because the crop was hurt by drier-than-normal weather from late 2006 to early this year.