Yaounde, June 26 - Cameroon exported 169,303 tonnes of cocoa beans in the first 10 months of the 2008/09 season, up 9.3 percent on the same period last year, data from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) showed on Friday.
The figures, confirmed by the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB), showed that Cameroon exported 3,627 tonnes in May, up 3 percent from April.
"This increase was to be expected as the mid-crop harvest got underway and we look forward to seeing more and more beans exported over the next two months before the season comes to end," said NCCB statistician Simeon Tchomte.
"The rise confirms our early predictions that this year's production will beat last year," he said.
Cocoa output from Cameroon, the world's fifth biggest grower, hit a record high of 187,533 tonnes in the 2007/08, and is expected to exceed 200,000 tonnes this year.
Lone local grinder SIC-CACAO did not buy and cocoa in May, but purchases since the beginning of the season stood at 25,117 tonnes in April.
Total cocoa production for the first 10 months of the season was 194,420 tonnes, already above last season's volume.