Cocoa Supplies Will Outpace Usage by 200,000 Tons, Armajaro Says

Cocoa supplies will outpace demand by 200,000 metric tons in the current crop year, according to Armajaro Trading Ltd., the agricultural-commodities trading arm of Armajaro Holdings Ltd.

“The mid-crop will be pretty good in West Africa,” William Venables, head of cocoa trading at the London-based company, said in an interview yesterday at its Mayfair offices, referring to the smaller of two annual harvests.

It is still too early to forecast supply and demand for the next crop, he added. Harvesting of the main crop starts in October. Rabobank International has estimated a deficit of 30,000 tons for the 2011-12 season, while ABN Amro NV and VM Group have said demand will outpace supply by 94,000 tons in the period.

Armajaro Trading, founded in 1998, specializes in sourcing cocoa, coffee and sugar and employs more than 2,000 people globally, according to its website. Richard Ryan is chief executive officer of Armajaro Trading.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-05/cocoa-supplies-will-outpace-usage-by-200-000-tons-armajaro-says.html)