PHL coco exports grow 78%
Exports of coconut oil and other coconut by-products reached an unprecedented level of $1.57 billion, 78 per cent more than last year’s value of $884 million, records of the Philippine Coconut Authority show.
Initial estimates of coconut exports reports from January to December 2010 showed a total of $1,570,329,790 compared with 2009 earnings of $884,022,338 for the same period.
Volume of coco exports increased by 55.5 percent, totaling 2,355,521 MTs compared with 2009 figure of 1,514,942 MTs.
PCA Administrator Oscar Garin said this is the fifth time that coconut exports hit the billion-dollar mark. The first time was in 1979 with $1,037,373,000.
Coconut oil remains the top coconut export product, which this year posted earnings of $1.217 billion, double than last year’s level of $588 million. This was mainly due to higher coco oil prices in the world market.
Volume of coconut oil exports went up by 64 percent to 1,355,618 MTs compared with last year’s 826,237 MTs.
Garin said that this is indeed a remarkable year for the coconut industry.
The increased demand for coconut oil came both from the local and international markets.
Garin attributed the increased demand in the local market to the implementation of the mandated 2 percent blend of coco methyl ester with petro diesel as one of the big factors.
Meanwhile, Garin said the PCA continues to implement its National Coconut Productivity Program with its Participatory Coconut Planting Project and Salt Fertilization Project.*
