Malaysian Cocoa Processing at Ten Year Low on Scarce Bean Supply

January 13, 2015

Cocoa processing in Malaysia has dropped by 19% over the past four year as Indonesian processing has grown by 60% according to KnowledgeCharts, a unit of Commodity Risk Analysis. Cargill and Olam have expanded their presence in Indonesia’s cocoa industry, establishing new plants in the country that use the majority of the country’s cocoa beans, leaving less for export to Malaysia. In addition, an Indonesian export tax imposed on cocoa beans has reduced shipments and increased domestic processing. Malaysia had been a major producer until the 1990’s, and the International Cocoa Organization estimates that the country harvested only 4,000 tons of beans last season as compared to 405,000 tons harvested by Indonesia and 1.74 million tons harvested by Ivory Coast, the world’s leading producer.

 

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