Lagos, July 16 - Nigeria's cocoa exports totalled 134,344 tonnes between Oct. 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009, down 7 percent from the same period a year earlier, data from the Federal Produce Inspection Service (FPIS) showed on Thursday.
On a monthly basis, cocoa exports from the world's fourth biggest grower rose 14 percent year-on-year to 7,291 tonnes in May, the FPIS data showed.
Dealers blamed the fall in exports from last year on the global economic crunch which has slashed international demand for the beans used to make ice cream, chocolate, butter, cake, liquor and cosmetics.
The economic meltdown and Nigeria's worsening electricity problems have also forced many local processors, who compete for beans with exporters, to either close shop or cut production.
A number of warehouses in Lagos and southeastern port city of Calabar are well stocked with cocoa beans, but some exporters have not made any shipments for months due to weak international demand, dealers said.
Nigeria's Oct-March 2008/09 main crop exports fell 12.43 percent to 116,778 tonnes compared with the same period of the previous season, data from the FPIS showed.
The FPIS is the government agency that certifies cocoa beans and other farm produce fit for export, mainly to Western and Asian markets.
May is the second month of Nigeria's cocoa mid crop, the smaller of two six-month harvest cycles that runs from April to September. It usually comes in at around 50,000-60,000 tonnes a year when conditions are good and chemicals readily available.
Industry experts say actual Nigerian cocoa export figures could be much higher than the official data because a number of exporters do not fully disclose their shipments at the ports.
Nigeria produces about 300,000-350,000 tonnes of cocoa a year, according to estimates by the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), a grouping of farmers, buyers processors and exporters.
Industry sources say a sizeable amount of beans is smuggled across Nigerian borders by some exporters trying to take advantage of lower port charges in neighbouring countries.
About 10-15 percent of Nigeria's cocoa output is shipped to Europe through Calabar, capital of the remote state of Cross River on the border with Cameroon.
Following is a monthly breakdown of Nigerian cocoa exports in tonnes as obtained from the FPIS:
2008/09 2007/08
October 9,786 11,104
November 18,554 16,644
December 25,321 33,897
January 30,105 33,905
February 20,906 28,104
March 12,106 9,700
April 10,286 4,533
May 7,291 6,401