Aroma Trading Limited

Market Report February 2003

Cocoa Butter
The ongoing civil unrest in Ivory Coast seems to have no damaging impact on the collection and exporting of Cocoa Beans. Prices fell slightly after this information became available. Even if there was a problem with availability, the Indonesian crop begins in April / May and this would cover any shortafll of Beans.

Eucalyptus Oil
Demand for spot and forward material is weak, and some traders have released Eucalyptus Oil at slightly lower levels.

Geranium Oil
It looks like prices may well have finally peaked for both Egyptian and Chinese Geranium Oil. Speculators have been offloading supplies at reduced prices, as the next crop is only a few months away.

Vanilla Beans
The price of Madagascan Vanilla beans has jumped 35% in less than 6 months. Traders and growers are telling Buyers that there will be a poor crop and some manufacturing end-users are caught with minimal stocks.