By Emmanuel Tumanjong
YAOUNDE, Cameroon--The price of crushed cocoa beans in Cameroon
could jump by 55.6% at the start of the season, as the West African
nation's government said Wednesday it is funding the grinding of
cocoa beans domestically.
"The government has dipped its hand into the pocket by
disbursing the sum of 3.3 billion Central African francs ($5.6
Million) to accompany nationals in the processing of cocoa beans in
the country," Cameroon's Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga
Atangana told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
Mr. Mbarga Atangana said the move is intended to encourage local
consumption and add value to the country's cocoa by exporting
by-products of the crop, instead of exporting cocoa beans only.
In the 2014-15 season, Cameroon produced 232,531 metric tons of
cocoa beans, exporting 198,130 tons of that harvest.
"Our intention is to process at least 40% of our cocoa, and
export 60% of the uncrushed beans, as we head toward producing
600,000 metric tons of cocoa yearly by 2020," said Mr.
Atangana.
Cameroon hosts two foreign cocoa-crushing
companies--Switzerland-based chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut
AG (BARN.EB) and South Africa's Tiger Brands (TBS.JO). Both
companies absorbed 32,112 tons of the crop that season. The
remaining 15 tons were crushed by local smallholders, government
and industrial figures indicated.
The cocoa season in Cameroon officially starts in August and
ends in July the following year.
Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at
realtimedesklondon@dowjones.com
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