Farmers separate infected cocoa beans from a pile at a farm in San Pedro, western Ivory Coast Aug 12, 2010.
It said it was still processing from stock, but did not say what capacity it was running at. Two industry sources said the plant was almost idle.One of the two sources said more major state run plants could shut soon in top grower Ivory Coast, which produces nearly half the world's cocoa. The price rally has derailed a long-established mechanism for global cocoa trade, through which farmers sell beans to local dealers who sell them on to processing plants or global traders.
However, in times of shortage like this year, the system breaks down — local dealers often pay farmers a premium to the farmgate price to secure beans. Ivorian and Ghanian authorities normally try to protect local plants by issuing them with cheap loans or by limiting volumes of beans that global traders can purchase.
The International Cocoa Organisation expects global cocoa production will fall by 10.9 per cent to 4.45 million metric tons this season.