RP pushes export of coco products to China

The Philippines is doubling its efforts to promote the export of coconut products to China.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is lining up several activities this year that include a training seminar on weaving and twining.

The training seminar which will be conducted in the second quarter of this year, is one of the projects to be funded by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) under its P10.5 million grant for export promotion and development.

The training seminar is expected to improve production capacity and increase value-added of coconut products.

The BSP grant would also benefit the food processing and home furnishings and furniture sectors.

To hasten the promotion of Philippine coconut product exports, the DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP) and the Philippine Trade Investment Center (PTIC) in Guangzhou, China are organizing a trade mission to China.

The mission, which aims to build business relationship with contractors in Chonging, Guilin, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, and Gansu, is scheduled for the third quarter of 2005, will cover the promotion of coco products such as coco fiber, coco geotextiles, and coco peat.

"We would like to take advantage of the momentum which we have already gained from our successful shipments of coconut products last year. Our long-term goal is to be able to supply the export market, on a more consistent basis, with more value-added products such as coco geotextiles. Our geotextiles are already being utilized to check erosion of dumpsite/landfill in Datianshen, Guangzhou in China," said Trade and Industry Senior Undersecretary Thomas G. Aquino

The PTIC in Guangzhou reported that there are good indications that another contract for the supply of coco fiber from a Chinese mattress factory will be finalized this year.

The contract is estimated to be worth $150,000 per month or about $1.8 million a year.

It will be recalled that in 2003, the DTI announced that Filipino firm Cocotechnologies Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with Guangzhou Rivers Enterprise Co Ltd. to supply coco coir and geotextiles, mats, biologs and coconut peat for soil erosion control used in a Guangzhou Rivers’ six-hectare dumpsite project.

The agreement involves the supply by the Philippine company of 70 containers of coco coir geotextile, bio log, and fascines worth $1 million.

Fascines are rolled coco mats with short fibers and peat inside.

Another supply contract of coco fiber and coco geotextile between Philippines and Chinese firms was firmed up during the visit of President Arroyo in Guangzhou in September 2004. Laguna-based Philippine Environmentech Products Corp. agreed to supply exclusively Guangzhou Tianhe Yi Xin Fiber Product Co. some 3,600 metric tons of coco fiber with estimated yearly sales revenue of $720,000.

The export of coco fiber products to China is expected to further bolster the income of people in the regions.

About 23 percent to 25 percent of the country’s cultivated lands are planted with coconut trees, and an estimated 30 million people are partly or wholly dependent on the coconut industry as their sources of livelihood.

Historically, the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions of Luzon and Eastern Visayas were the centers of coconut production.

In 1980s, Western Mindanao and Southern Mindanao also became important coconut-growing regions.

The Philippines is the second largest producer of coconut products, next only to Indonesia.

Coconut fibers are obtained from the fibrous husk (mesocarp) of the coconut (Cocos nucifera) through decortification.

Coco coir, a durable fiber extracted from discarded coconut husks, is now widely used as basic material in making nets, rolls, and mats as protective covers for soils and slopes. It has become popular in the United States and countries in Southeast Asia.

Coco coir is preferred over concrete bricks and peat moss because it is cheaper and completely biodegradable. It is also an excellent growing medium for plants and grasses since the fiber has natural rooting hormones and good water-holding capacity.

For geotextile, the fibers have to undergo further twining and weaving.