Nigeria's unrest chokes cocoa shipments

By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Nigerian protests against police
brutality, coupled with curfews to quell unrest, have
drastically slowed cocoa shipments to the Lagos port, adding to
problems for farmers grappling with falling prices, an industry
body said.
Nigeria, the world's fifth biggest cocoa grower, had barely
recovered from the impact of lockdowns to curb the novel
coronavirus when violence sparked by the protests erupted last
month, forcing several states to restrict movement.
The president of the cocoa association, Mufutau Abolarinwa,
told Reuters the combination of curfews and traffic gridlock
meant it could take up to 30 days for containers to travel
within Lagos to the port in the same city, compared with a day
previously.
Exporters can cut travel time to about a week by using
barges, but cashflows have been impacted, a potential risk for
farmers busy with the main crop harvest.
"If the problems persist ... it might affect output,"
Abolarinwa said. But he also said output for the 2020/21 season
could rise to 270,000 tonnes, from last season's estimate of
250,000 tonnes on improved weather provided the problems
abated. Commodity analyst Robo Adhuse said farmgate prices have
fallen by around 8% to under one million naira ($2,626.74) per
tonne, partly because of the curfews and lower global prices.
Abolarinwa said trading houses offshore have started to
complain about delays in shipment but no defaults on contracts
have been recorded.
One cocoa buyer in Nigeria's second biggest growing state
Cross Rivers who has a 500-tonne warehouse said the delays could
force him to stop buying if he runs out of storage space.
"I have stored close to 300 tonnes within 10-days," Godwin
Ukwu told Reuters. "In another 10-days, my warehouse will be
filled."
($1 = 380.70 naira)