Cocoa exports dropped 36.3 percent

Indonesian cocoa exports dropped 36.3 percent to US$92.79 million in January from $145.59 million in the same month last year.

Trade Ministry foreign trade director general Deddy Saleh attributed the decline to the implementation of a cocoa export duty in 2010.

The export duty had caused the increasing absorption of domestic cocoa by local processing firms, he said, as quoted kontan.co.id.

He said, however, exports of cocoa products rose by 24.5 percent in January 2011 from the same period last year.