Ivory Coast cocoa helped by rain, mild Harmattan wind

Unusually heavy rain and a mild Harmattan dry wind last week in Ivory Coast's main cocoa regions brightened the outlook for the last stage of the main crop, but the dry season elsewhere could tighten supply, farmers and analysts said on Monday.


Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in the dry season that runs from mid-November to March, when the dusty Harmattan wind that usually blows from the Sahara from December to March hits cocoa farming.

The 2014/15 main crop harvest opened on Oct. 1 and farmers expect an abundant harvest of quality beans until the end of January.

In the western region of Soubre, in the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 43 millimetres of rain compared with none the previous week and a mild Harmattan.