** Click on the Chart above for a better view**
- Papua New Guinea turned to coffee and cocoa when the prices of vanilla dropped. Now that the vanilla pricing has stabilized, there is an effort for the farmers to grow vanilla again. Having a 4th (coffee, cocoa, copra and vanilla) crop would further give the farmers a steady income.
- WTI Crude dropped below $57.40 a barrel as US stockpiles increased to the highest level in almost two years.
- Arrivals of cocoa beans from Ivory Coast's farms at the ports in Oct 1 to March 15, the first 24 weeks of the 2008-09 season, are 844,000 MT, down by 16% on the 1,001,000 tons arrived in the same period last season.
- Ivory Coast coffee is having the same poor quality problems as cocoa. Coffee exporting is down 58% due to the ban on exports of poor quality sub grade coffee beans.
- Students from Indiana State University visited the offices of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to see its operations. They undertook, promoted and encouraged scientific research aimed at improving the quality of cocoa, coffee, sheanut, and other tropical crops.
- May cocoa is trading higher, helped by today's weaker dollar and predictions for a world production deficit in 2008-2009.
- Dow Jones Newswire last week reported that Indonesia’s cocoa grinding (demand) would likely drop to 100,000 MT this year from 170,000 MT last year.
- International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) expects Malaysia’s cocoa grinding to fall back to 290,000 MT in 2009. They expect world cocoa grinding would fall 10% to 719,100 MT in Asia and Oceania in the crop year to September 2009.
- Malaysia is currently Asia’s largest cocoa grinding and processing hub. Asia’s second largest cocoa grinder, Indonesia, has indicated that its grinding production would likely fall by as much as 40% due to lower demand for cocoa products. Local cocoa grinders and cocoa product makers may consider reducing operational costs and prices to remain competitive during the current tough times.
- As reported in previous blogs Cadbury is being certified Fairtrade in August for its Dairy Milk chocolate. Turns out the Fairtrade Certification only applies to Britain and Ireland. The same Dairy Milk chocolate they make in Australia cannot be certified at this time. Although they are working with the Fairtrade certifier, I'm not sure what the hold up is? Cadbury is going to pay to premium for the cocoa and doing so to help the Ghanian farmer. Same beans - same cause, different standards for Australia? If there is any one reading this that can explain this to me please do. I’ll be sending an email to Transfair USA (Fairtrade certifier in the USA) and hope to get some clarification. I've added some facts on slavery in cocoa.
Facts about slavery in cocoa
§ It is claimed that 90% of Ivory coast cocoa plantations use forced labor
§ The U.S. state Department states that over 15,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 have been sold into forced labor on cotton, coffee, and cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast
§ They work for 80 to 100 hours per week. Those who attempt to escape are beaten.
§ The average cost for a slave is $30
§ 10,000 are slaves in cocoa fields in Ivory Coast
§ 90% of IC cocoa plantations use Slave labor
§ 200,000 children are traded each year
§ Small farms produce an average of 350 lbs of cocoa per acre
§ Average annual cocoa revenues Range from $3o to $110 per household member
§ More that 60% of working children on West African cocoa farms are below the age of 14
§ Children often take part in dangerous cocoa farming tasks such as clearing the fields with machetes and the application of pesticides
§ One-third of cocoa famers’ children have never attended school
§ In Ghana with the latest figures and statistics indicating that 2.4 million Ghanaian children were engaged in worst forms of child labor.
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