Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Cocoa Arrivals From Brazil’s Bahia State Double, Hartmann Says

Bahia cocoa arrivals, the largest producing region of Brazil, more than double the previous week, according to analyst Thomas Hartmann.
Deliveries to shippers and processors in the growing areas of Bahia was 11,302 bags in the week ended March 20, Hartmann wrote in a report yesterday. That compares with 5,107 bags last week. The total arrivals from all over Brazil were 32,813 bags, compared with 9404 bags a week earlier. A bag weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).
The figures are slightly inflated due to the inclusion of the amounts that had arrived during the week of Carnival, but only registered after the transmittal of last week, "said Hartmann. Brazil held its annual Carnival celebration earlier this month.
Bay represents almost 80 percent of the country's cocoa production, 95 percent of its grinding, according to Hartmann. He is a board member of the Commercial Association of Bahia and is responsible for the statistical service of the group in cocoa production in Brazil.
Hartmann predicted in December that the main harvest in Brazil could reach 1.2 million bags.