YAOUNDE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Cameroon's domestic traded

cocoa volumes rose 1.17% to 266,725 metric tons in the 2023/24

season compared with the same period a year ago, data from the

National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) regulator showed on

Thursday.

The data for the season that ran from Aug. 1 2023, to July

15, 2024, showed that Telcar Cocoa, a Cargill joint

venture, was Cameroon's leading exporter, with more than 35%,

while Ofi Cam, a subsidiary of Olam International, purchased

almost 25%.

The NCCB said nearly 80% of the Central African nation's

cocoa was exported to the European market, while around 19% went

to Asia.

It said that 85,672 tons of beans were processed locally by

industrial units.

During the season, the farmgate price varied from 1,150 CFA

francs ($1.93) to 6,300 CFA francs per kilogram.

Unlike world's number 1 and 2 top growers, Ivory Coast and

Ghana respectively, Cameroon's cocoa sector is liberalised with

no fixed farmgate price. This has allowed farmers to negotiate

higher prices for their beans, benefiting from the record global

prices due to supply concerns from the two top growers.

The world's fifth-biggest cocoa producer behind Ecuador and

Nigeria, launched its 2024 - 2025 cocoa season on Thursday.

($1 = 596.2500 CFA francs)