Abaca export earnings down

MANILA, Philippines - Earnings from abaca exports fell by 22.7 percent in 2012 as demand from key markets remain weak.

Data from the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) showed that export earnings from abaca exports from January to December 2012 fell to $108.2 million from January to December in 2012 from $140 million in the same period in 2011.

The export value of abaca pulp, which comprised 69 percent of exports in 2012 fell 28.3 percent to $74.7 million from $104 million in 2011.

Export value of the cordage sector also fell 4.2 percent to $16.2 million from $16.9 million year-on-year.

Export value of abaca fabric rose 16.3 percent to $1 million from $988,925 in 2011.

Export earnings from fibercrafts were valued at $10.7 million in 2012, up 133.6 percent from $4.5 million in the same period in 2011.

“The trend has really been going down in key markets such as US and Europe. But we are confident that we would be able to rise again through the help of the private sector,” said  Imelda Marbella, officer-in-charge of FIDA’s lanning and statistics division.

She noted that several private investors have been proposing the creation of innovative products from abaca.

Abaca is a material used for making tea bags, casing of meat sausages, surgical masks and cigarette paper.

Philippine abaca fiber and other manufactures are sold to countries like the US, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, China, Taiwan and South Korea among others.