Coco oil exports down 60% in July

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine coconut oil exports fell in July because of tight copra supply and stiff competition from substitutes oils in the market, the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP) reported  over the weekend. 

UCAP executive director Yvonne Agustin said CNO exports fell by 60 percent to 49,845 metric tons (MT) in July 2014, from 124, 480 MT a year ago.

She attributed the significant decrease in shipments to the continued decline in deliveries of copra from which coconut oil is extracted. 

Copra production remains slow because as trees remain stressed after the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda to major coconut-producing areas in Eastern Visayas.

“The decline in July’s shipment should have not been that big, however there has been a delay in the arrival of two transport vessels. We expect this unshipped volume to carryover for the following month,” the official said.

For January to July, CNO exports reached 411, 523 MT, down 47.6 percent from 784,862 MT during the comparative period last year.

CNO continues to enjoy a world market price premium of $1,238 per MT in July 2014, higher than its competitor palm kernel oil at $1,109 per MT.

Agustin said that the wide gap in prices might be attributed to seasonal production factors, as palm kernel oil production is traditionally high during this period.

“In general, there’s also an expected robust production of other vegetable oil such as soybean, which offers buyers cheaper alternative,” said Agustin.