Coco oil exports down 43.2% in Jan-July

MANILA, Philippines -  Coconut oil exports (CNO) from January to July this year amounted to 493,116 metric tons, down 43.2 percent compared to the first seven months last year.

On a monthly basis, CNO exports decreased by more than half in July this year, according to the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP).

CNO exports have been declining over the past eight months.

UCAP president Yvonne Agustin said preliminary coco oil export estimates show that the country’s coco oil exports fell 57.4 percent to 62, 011, metric tons (MT) in July 2011 from 145,564 MT a year ago.

Agustin attributed the continued decline in CNO exports to the tight supply of coconut in the domestic market after three years of successive good production which stressed the coconut trees.

She pointed out that last year’s El Niño phenomenon severely affected coconut plantations across the country, resulting in lower supply of copra this year.

UCAP is optimistic of a recovery by the coconut oil sector in the second half of the year, noting a gradual increase in coconut production over the last two months.

“We are seeing improvements in production, that’s why there’s an increase in CNO exports in July from the previous month,” Agustin said.

CNO exports dropped 74.7 percent to 26,829 MT in June 2011 — the lowest in two and a half years.

UCAP projects CNO exports to reach 900,000 MT this year, lower by almost a third from last year’s 1.32 million MT.