Yaounde, Aug 18 - Cameroon exported 178,592 tonnes of cocoa beans during the 2008/09 season, up 10 percent from the previous season, according to statistics released on Tuesday by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB).
The full season's figure, confirmed by the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB), represents an increase of 16,372 tonnes over the 2007/08 season, taking exports to a new high.
"This year represents a third year consecutive increase in cocoa bean exports from Cameroon, an indication that government efforts since 2005 to revive the sector are paying off," said Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.
The cocoa season in Cameroon, the world's fifth biggest producer, runs from Aug. 1 to July 31.
Total cocoa bean production was 187,533 tonnes in the 2007/08 season, up from 183,277 tonnes in the previous campaign, and is expected to hit a new record of over 200,000 tonnes this year when local processing quantities are added to exports.
Cameroon exports much less cocoa than West Africa's Ivory Coast, the world's biggest grower, but Cameroonian volumes are expanding as Ivorian shipments fall.
Ivory Coast, whose October-September cocoa season has been disrupted by disease, a strike and administrative reshuffles, had exported almost 800,000 tonnes between October and July, down 9 percent on the previous season.
As well as greater production, Cameroon is targeting expansion of its domestic cocoa processing industry.
Figures for the first half of the season showed its only processing firm, SIC-Cacoa, had bought 24,425 tonnes of beans, up more than 30 percent on the same period in the previous season.
Full-year figures for grinder purchases were not immediately available.