Phl aims to become 3rd biggest coco coir exporter

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is gearing up to be the third biggest exporter of coco coir or fiber with the infusion of P2 billion to the Philippine Coconut Authority, the Department of Trade and Industry announced on Monday.

"By 2016, we intend to place the country’s coco coir industry as the top three exporter of coco coir in the world," DTI Undersecretary Merly Cruz said in a coconut husk summit in Lucena City.

Cruz said the coco coir industry is aiming for a $50-million export revenue yearly along with domestic sales of P1.7 billion. The industry is also seen to create 10,000 jobs while increasing the production of 200,000 coconut farmers and 450 small and medium businesses.

She said the government is planning to develop and expand the country's supply base for coco coir, strengthen access to information and expand the market linkage among players in the industry.

Cruz said there are four business models to help improve coco coir production in the country: the community-based integrated processing; the big-brother integrator (with decorticating plant and outsources twining to communities); the tufting facility as market consolidator of coco twines; and triple-armor application of coir in mining sites.

The United States, China, the European Union and other Asian countries are big potential markets for the coco coir industry which includes mattresses, rubberized coir, coir tufted mats and coir twines and yarns.

She said the industry will be needing support from the transportation sector, machinery and ancillaries, small coconut farmers, cooperatives, associations, processors, exporters and traders, government agencies and units such as the DTI, Department of Agriculture-Philippine Coconut Authority, Department of Science and Technology, Coconut Industry Investment Fund and local government units (LGUs), "and the Philippine coconut industry cluster team for the coconut coir and peat.”

In 2011, the coco coir industry produceed 6,037 metric tons of coco coir for export out of the 15.245 billion coconuts harvested from 3.562 million hectares of land.