(Ecofin Agency) - In Nigeria, purchases of cocoa have slumped as most of the beans for the ongoing harvest failed to fully develop. In addition to this, there is also the relative low weight of matured beans, revealed buying agents in the country’s cocoa-producing region which is in the southwest.

Benjamin Adeyera, a cocoa-buying agent, in a phone interview with Bloomberg, attributed the high incidence of “flat beans” or beans that did not fully develop to the late arrival of rains in the early months of the year. He added that recent purchases ranged between 230-240g per 100 beans (as compared to 260-270g usually). “Most exporters are no longer advancing money to buying agents because of the high prevalence,” he revealed.

Nigeria was ranked as the world’s seventh cocoa producer after its output estimate for the 2015-16 season was lowered to 190,000 metric tons from 270,000 tons by the International Cocoa Organization.