Ivory Coast cocoa arrivals seen at 1.37 mln T by August 18

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached around 1,365,000 tonnes by August 18 since the start of the season in October, exporters estimated on Monday, up from 1,352,000 tonnes in the same period of the previous season. The figure updates exporters' estimates to take account of official data released by the finance ministry on Monday, which showed arrivals of 1,283,807 tonnes through the end of June. "In the period from October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, the total declared cocoa purchases are 1,283,807 tonnes compared with 1,264,479 tonnes during the same period of the 2011-2012 harvest, an increase of 1.53 percent," the official document stated. Exporters earlier in the day had estimated arrivals up to August 18 at 1,407,000 tonnes. The official data showed that Ivory Coast exported 1,302,864 tonnes of cocoa beans and the bean equivalent of semi-processed cocoa products during the main crop, an increase of nearly 8 percent on the same period last season.