Coco exports down in January-April

MANILA, Philippines - The volume of the country’s coconut oil exports dropped 41.5 percent in the four months to April compared to the same period a year ago amid lower buying activity overseas, the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines, Inc. (UCAP) said.

UCAP executive director Yvonne Agustin said in a telephone interview yesterday that preliminary estimates of the volume of coconut oil exports for the January to April period reached 209,256 metric tons (MT), lower than the 357,622 MT shipped in the same period last year.

For the month of April alone, she said the volume of coconut oil exports declined by 39.7 percent to 58,900 MT from the previous year’s 97,614 MT.

She said the volume of coconut oil shipments declined due to lower demand.

“Demand for coconut oil from companies has been weak,” she said.

She said the lower demand was likely due to companies which usually purchase coconut oil for the manufacture of their products, still having available supply of coconut oil.

She said that despite the lower volume of shipments as of end-April compared to the same period a year ago, the UCAP expects shipments to rise in the coming months as demand starts to pick up.

She said the UCAP still expects the volume of coconut oil exports to reach 925,000 MT this year.

“We have the same outlook for coconut oil shipments because we expect buying activity to improve in the coming months,” she said.

Last year, the country’s volume of coconut oil shipments reached 823,381 MT, below the 900,000 MT projection of the UCAP for that year.

The volume of coconut oil exports last year was likewise lower than the 1.343 million MT shipped in 2010.

The UCAP had attributed the decline in the volume of coconut oil exports last year to lower copra supply as the dry spell in the first-half of 2010 affected coconut output and coconut trees experienced stress from strong production for three consecutive years.