Ivory Coast Cocoa Harvest Said Likely to Decline for Second Year
- World No. 1 producer’s crop seen at 1.65 million tons
- Dry winds over West Africa have damaged crop quality
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The 2016-17 cocoa harvest in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of the beans, will probably decline for a second year.
The country will probably produce 1.65 million metric tons of beans in the season that starts Oct. 1, according to a person familiar with government forecasts who isn’t authorized to speak publicly. The main crop, which runs from October to March, is estimated at 1.2 million tons while the mid-crop reaped from April to September is seen at 450,000 tons. The nation probably produced about 1.7 million tons in the 2016 season compared with a record 1.8 million tons in the preceding 12 months.