Coco coir eyes domestic market
Roxas City -- The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) here said that the coconut coir produced by Capiz Small Coconut Farmers Marketing Cooperative (CASCOFAMCO) is initially intended for the domestic market.
In an update report to members of the Provincial Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council (PSMEDC), PCA Provincial Coconut Development Manager Jeffrey de los Reyes said that when the coconut coir production project was conceptualized they had the domestic market in mind due to the limited capacity of the cooperative's four decorticating machines.
The development was also echoed by De Los Reyes at the opening of the Cocoweek celebration here, Aug. 21. This year's activity, which runs up to Aug. 26, marks the 21st and 11th edition of the celebration, respectively.
However, the PCA provincial manager pointed out that this does not mean that CASCOFAMCO will no longer work to penetrate the export market.
Coco coir production is part of the Integrated Coconut Processing Project of CASCOFAMCO based at its village-level coconut oil mill at Barangay Ondoy in Ivisan, Capiz. The produces produced by CASCOFAMCO under the integrated project include cooking oil, virgin coconut oil, coir, crude oil, and other coconut by-products.
It may be recalled that in the early part of this year an opportunity to export coconut coir was opened up for the local coconut industry by the government through the Philippine International Trade Center (PITC) in Southern China that comprises the so-called Pan-Pearl Delta where coconut coir is in demand for use mainly as anti-soil erosion contraptions.
The said country has signified to buy more or less 100,000 metric tons of coconut coir from the Philippines.
De los Reyes said the PCA led representatives of CASCOFAMCO who made a benchmarking trip to Davao to observe and learn from an existing exporting firm in that part of the country. The Davao firm is capable of producing 9 MT of coir daily.
Saying CASCOFAMCO would really have to rev up, De los Reyes revealed that CASCOFAMCO now has four decorticating machines, from the original one, for coco coir production. The devices, which will be formally turned over to the cooperative Aug. 24, were provided by the provincial government of Capiz.
The towns of Pilar (First District) and Mambusao (Second District) will each have one decorticating machine.
De los Reyes said that, at the moment, CASCOFAMCO will cater to the domestic market but with an eye on the world too.
President Arroyo has said the government will continue to implement programs such as the development of the coconut sector and initiate legislative measures to sustain the country's economic gains and move the Philippines towards First World status.
(PIA)