Barry Callebaut reports further acceleration in volume growth
5 July 2010 – Barry Callebaut has forecast continued strength in cocoa prices, but a weak sugar market, as the company reports an acceleration in sales growth in the first nine months of fiscal year 2009/10, ended 31 May 2010.
The sales volume came in at 975,044 tonnes, up 8.9%. The most significant volume increases were in the Asia-Pacific region (+20.9%) and the Americas (+16.8%). In product groups, Gourmet & specialities Products recorded a volume growth of 20.3%. Barry Callebaut’s growth was in contrast to the flat development of the global chocolate market for the period from September 2009 to April 2010.
Juergen Steinemann, CEO of Barry Callebaut, says, “We still expect an unfavourable forward combined cocoa ratio as well as negative currency translation effects in the coming months. However, based on our focused growth strategy and supported by the ongoing outsourcing trend, we are confident that we will continue to significantly outperform the global chocolate market and be able to achieve out three year financial targets.”
The global chocolate confectionery market has begun to recover in the February-April term and grew 3.5% in volume, driven primarily by major markets in Western Europe (+3.2%) and the US (+7.3%) as well as emerging markets such as China (+22.9%) and Brazil (+9.8%). However, Eastern Europe showed a negative growth rate, mainly due to volume decreases in Russia (-3.1%).
Market prices at cocoa terminal markets stabilised at a record high level in the second and third quarter of the current fiscal year. The world’s sugar price has been extremely volatile over the last nine months and is expected to remain flat. As of March 2010, dairy prices increased significantly but stabilised at a relatively high level compared to last year.
