(Ecofin Agency) - In Ivory Coast, cocoa output for the main season will stand between 1.27 million and 1.3 million tons, Reuters revealed after questioning exporters.

Three of these exporters estimated that the output would stand around 1.3 million tons. However, a fourth one set it lower considering the brown rot threat. “We have revised our forecast because our on-field team notified us of brown rot which we didn’t notice last year,” said one of the company’s representatives.

The Cocoa and coffee council also expects production around 1.2-1.3 million tons of cocoa for the main season which goes from October to March. Bloomberg citing a source close to the council who asked not to be named said output could be the same as or exceed that of last year (1.25 million tons). However, the source added that the volume of output will be dependent on when harmattan will arrive and how long it will last.

Interviewed, Massandje Toure-Litse, chief executive of CCC, made no comment about her institution’s forecast saying she just expects harvest to be good throughout the season.

Cocoa output in Cote d’Ivoire, world’s number one producer of the crop, slumped by 13% last year to 1.56 million tons as the country suffered its worst ever harmattan in the past three decades, Bloomberg recalls.

Aaron Akinocho