DUTCH COCOA PROCESSORS UNHAPPY WITH ICCO BUFFER Dutch cocoa processors are unhappy with the intermittent buying activities of the International Cocoa Organization's buffer stock manager, industry sources told Reuters. "The way he is operating at the moment is doing almost nothing to support the market. In fact he could be said to be actively depressing it," one company spokesman said. Including the 3,000 tonnes he acquired on Friday, the total amount of cocoa bought by the buffer stock manager since he recently began support operations totals 21,000 tonnes. Despite this buying, the price of cocoa is well under the 1,600 Special Drawing Rights, SDRs, a tonne level below which the bsm is obliged to buy cocoa off the market. "Even before he started operations, traders estimated the manager would need to buy at least up to his 75,000 tonnes maximum before prices moved up to or above the 1,600 SDR level, and yet he appears reluctant to do so," one manufacturer said. "We all hoped the manager would move into the market to buy up to 75,000 tonnes in a fairly short period, and then simply step back," he added. "The way the manager is only nibbling at the edge of the market at the moment is actually depressing sentiment and the market because everyone is holding back from both buying and selling waiting to see what the manager will do next," one processor said. "As long as his buying tactics remain the same the market is likely to stay in the doldrums, and I see no indication he is about to alter his methods," he added. Processors and chocolate manufacturers said consumer prices for cocoa products were unlikely to be affected by buffer stock buying for some time to come.