Metric System

Vietnam’s cocoa sector set to boom with state-owned plantations

Dispatches from Asia Choco Cocoa Congress in Singapore

State-owned plantations could rouse Vietnam’s cocoa industry

By Oliver Nieburg

Vietnamese state-owned companies plan to convert some coffee and rubber plantations to cocoa, delivering a significant boost to the country’s annual output, says Vietnam’s principle cocoa buyer Puratos Grand-Place.

ICCO cuts cocoa deficit forecast

ICCO cuts cocoa deficit forecast

By Oliver Nieburg

The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) anticipates a lower than expected global cocoa shortage in the 2011/12 season due to ideal weather conditions and higher grinds in some cocoa producing countries.

Synergies for sugar giant

Synergies for sugar giant

German sugar giant Suedzucker willl break ground on a new plant to
produce bioethanol fuel from wheat at Zeitz in East Germany.
Earmarked for completion by 2005, the plant will operate in
conjunction with the local sugar factory.