Cocoa crop in Sulawesi

Cocoa crop in Sulawesi

SINGAPORE (Reuter): A powerful earthquake which struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is not expected to hit cocoa crop and supplies, Singapore traders said yesterday.

Traders said initial reports showed the quake, which destroyed nearly 400 wooden houses and government buildings, left no damage to ports or cocoa plantations.

The quake, which measured 7.0 on the open-ended Richter scale and struck on Monday. The quake, its epicenter in the Celebes Sea about 125 km (78 miles) north of Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi, was one of the biggest to shake Indonesia in recent years.

Sulawesi is the main cocoa growing region in Indonesia, the world's third biggest grower after Ivory Coast and Ghana.

"We have not heard of damages to the crop or shipment delays," a trader said.

Traders also said cocoa bean arrivals at Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi's main cocoa port, had been unusually slow at this time of the year.

"December arrivals had been very slow and arrivals for January do not look very good," another said. Traders said recent floods and a wet spell in Sulawesi could have taken a toll on production.