(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon has seen its cocoa output down 11.2% YoY during the 2022-2023 season, which officially ended on September 7, 2023. Official figures revealed by the National Cocoa Coffee Council (ONCC) showed that over the period under review, producers harvested 262,112 tons of beans, compared to 295,163 tons the previous season.

The status report published by the Council explained that the decline was expected because of the vegetative rest period, coupled with the adverse effects of climate change and the security situation in the Northwest and Southwest production basins. Other factors include "the rising cost of agricultural inputs due to the conflict in Ukraine and illegal and massive exports to Nigeria," the report said.

The low production came with a drastic drop in exports. ONCC reported that 186,754 tons of beans were shipped to the international market during the 2022-2023 season, compared with an updated figure of 228,920 tons during the previous campaign. This decline of 42,166 tons (18.4%) happened at the time of "the implementation of the 2023 Finance Act, which introduced an exit duty of 10% of the FOB value, equivalent to a royalty of around CFA150 per kilogram exported".

Price hike

On a positive note, the 2022-23 cocoa campaign has seen an increase in the volume of locally processed cocoa beans. Local cocoa processors (both industries and artisanal units) handled 89,204 tons of beans during the campaign, compared to 86,850 tons in the previous year; an increase of 2,354 tons, or 2.7%. ONCC attributes this performance to the good dynamic of existing industries but also to the entry of a new player, Africa Processing, which started activity during the season reviewed.

As for producer prices, there has also been a positive trend during the 2022-2023 cocoa campaign mainly due to the strong concurrence on the local market. Officially reported, while the minimum average price remained the same as the previous campaign (CFA750 per Kg), the maximum price saw a significant increase reaching CFA1,480 CFA per kilogram, compared to 1,290 in the previous campaign (up CFA190 per kilogram, or 14.7%).