Indonesia's Sulawesi September coffee exports rise

Indonesia's Sulawesi September coffee exports rise

JAKARTA (October 06, 2010) : Indonesia's coffee bean exports from the main growing island of Sulawesi rose 9.2 percent in September from a year ago, indicating adequate supplies despite unusually heavy rains, trade data showed on Tuesday. An increase in supply from Indonesia could further soften cocoa prices which have been under pressure because of a possible bumper harvest in African producers.

Liffe cocoa prices hit a one-year low last month on improved West African crop prospects. Indonesia shipped 18,849 tonnes of cocoa beans in September, up from 17,264 tonnes in the same month a year ago, trade data showed, helped by government efforts to boost production.

"Production from Central Sulawesi is quite high, after the cocoa programme was launched," said Herman Agam, chairman of the Indonesia Cocoa Association, or Askindo, for the Central Sulawesi branch. "That allow us to have more beans to meet demand," he said. Central Sulawesi shipped 53 percent of Sulawesi's cocoa bean exports in September. Indonesia, the world's third-biggest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, exports beans mostly to grinders in Malaysia, the United States, and Brazil.

Exports for January-September rose 8.65 percent to 210,328.44 tonnes, from 193,575.95 tonnes in the same period a year ago, indicating that a recent monthly export tax applied on cocoa beans has not slowed overseas shipment. The Indonesian government slapped an export tax on locally grown cocoa beans in April in an effort to encourage the retention of fermented beans for local grinding. It was the first time cocoa beans have been subjected to an export tax, set at 5 percent for October.