According to the INS (National Institute of Statistics), Cameroonian exports of cocoa beans and derivatives generated 512 billion FCFA in 2023, a 10.4% increase compared to the 463.6 billion recorded in 2022.
180,095 tons of raw beans were exported in 2023, down 55,445 tons from 2022, generating just over 359 billion FCFA.
Launch of the 2024-2025 Cocoa Season
The Minister of Commerce, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, presided over the official launch of the 2024-2025 cocoa season in the country on August 8, 2024, in Mvengue, a locality in the southern region of Cameroon.
As usual, this ceremony will be an opportunity to review the 2023-2024 season, which officially ran from August 1, 2023, to July 15, 2024.
Production Increase
In this regard, data compiled by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC), to which Invest in Cameroon had access, reveals that the 2023-2024 cocoa season in the country ended with a marketed production of 266,725 tons of beans, an increase of 1.17% compared to the 263,613 tons of the previous season.
However, it can be observed that this volume is down from the peaks of 292,472 tons and 295,164 tons in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, which were the most prolific of the last five seasons.
Record High Producer Prices
The biggest improvement of the season came from producer prices, which exploded during the season, breaking all records.
In detail, ONCC points out, farm gate prices were at a minimum of 1,150 FCFA per kg (2,023 FCFA in FOB value or final price of beans delivered on board), against a maximum of 6,300 FCFA per kg (5,648 FCFA in FOB value) recorded during a group sale operation in the Central region.
This exponential increase in prices both domestically and internationally generated total FOB revenues of 488.8 billion FCFA, an increase of more than 220 billion FCFA compared to the previous season.
Local Processing Lags Behind
The main shadow on this rather bright picture was local processing. Indeed, ONCC reveals that while new large-scale processing units have been multiplying in the country for the past three seasons, with cumulative capacities exceeding 100,000 tons, only 85,789 tons of beans were processed in Cameroon in 2023-2024, a decrease of 3,415 tons compared to the 89,204 tons of the 2022-2023 season.
Exporters Dominate the Market
The local market was once again dominated by exporters, who posted shipments of 185,613 tons throughout the season.
In this regard, Telcar Cocoa, the local trader of the American firm Cargill, retained its leadership in exports by single-handedly ensuring 35.1% of international bean sales.
This is compared to 24.9% for Ofi Cam and 9.8% for Sbet, respectively.