The Hindu Business Line : Campco product prices up on cocoa shortage

Rise in prices of main raw material cocoa and sugar by 15-20 per cent this year due to short supply have compelled Campco to effect a corresponding increase in prices of its chocolate products while other major manufacturers also said to be following suit.

Fall in production of cocoa in the major producing State, Kerala, due to unfavourble weather conditions, has pushed up the prices of cocoa beans. Current procurement prices for wet beans range between Rs 30 and Rs 36 depending on the quality and area of cultivation and similarly, that of dried beans are from Rs 130-140 a kg, Mr Madhusudhana Rao, Managing Director, Mangalore-based Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (Campco) told Business Line.

The price of wet beans used to be around Rs 30 a kg and that of dried beans Rs 110-120 a kg.

He said Campo is expected to achieve its sales target of Rs 42 crore for the current fiscal.

According to him, the per capita consumption of chocolate in the country at present is a meagre 0.03 kg as against Europe’s 4.9 kg.

Industry sources said that the chocolate and confectionery market in the country is expected to grow at 12 per cent an annum. Given the ever increasing demand for chocolate products, “cocoa requirement is growing at around 15 per cent annually and it will reach about 30,000 tonnes in the next 5 years,” said an industry source.

Production

The country has increased its production from 5,198 tonnes from 12,402 hectares in 1998-99 to 10,560 tonnes from 31,885 hectares in 2007-08 as against an estimated current demand of around 20,000 tonnes, the Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development sources told Business Line.

The global production of cocoa has also declined further according to the revised production estimates released by the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO). According to revised estimates the total output would be down by 7 per cent at 3.45 million tonnes in 2008-09 from 3.72 million in 2007-08. End of the season stocks in 2009 is also expected to decline by 4.7 per cent.

In September, the ICCO daily price averaged $3,143 a tonne, up by $186 compared to the average price recorded in the previous month ($2,957), and ranged between $2,914 and $3,269.