Indonesia is the world’s third largest cocoa producer, however, the majority of the country’s cocoa trees were planted in the 1980s, and their age has made them vulnerable to disease. The country has struggled to increase production, and the government has now announced that in early 2015 it will launch a $95 million plan to revitalize the industry and double cocoa bean output. Indonesia is forecast to produce between 485,000 and 500,000 tons of cocoa in 2015 – up from 485,000 tons in 2014, and 475,000 tons in 2013; this one year plan which is scheduled to begin in April targets production of over 1 million tons. Indonesia’s cocoa bean exports are forecast to drop to 30,000 tons from 70,000 in 2014, and imports are set to increase to 70,000 tons in 2015 from 50,000 tons in 2014. Domestic grinders are running at only half of their 550,000 tons capacity as independent grinders are unable to compete with commodity giants such as Cargill, Olam International Ltd, and Barry Callebaut. A similar $350 million revitalization scheme launched by the Indonesian government in 2009 failed to increase cocoa bean production over the 600,000 tons targeted in its five year timeframe, leaving investors somewhat guarded in their view of the 2015 plan.
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