Abaca export earnings fall 24% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - Export earnings of abaca fiber and other manufactures fell 27.4 percent in the first quarter of the year as demand for pulp dropped significantly, according to Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA).

Export earnings fell to $22.74 million in the first three months of the year from $31. 33 million in the same period last year.

Earnings from the export of pulp fell by 40.1 percent in the first quarter of the year to $14.18 million from $23.66 million last year.

Imelda Marbella of the FIDA Statistics Division said that demand from primary markets shifted to raw fiber during the period.

Export earnings from raw fiber rose 21 percent to $1.46 million from $1.20 million previously.

Raw abaca fiber is also processed into pulp, which in turn is used to make tea bags, surgical masks, sausage casings and coffee filters among other products.

“Demand for pulp has not yet recovered. It seems that during the period, there was a shift to raw materials,” said Marbella.

She said one possible explanation is that export clients themselves are adding value to raw fiber.

“It may be one of (the) strategies of companies,” she said.

The local abaca pulp manufacturing sector, however, is developing new products to cope with diminished demand.

Marbella said traces of the global recession still linger in major markets like Europe, translating to lower consumption.

Export earnings from abaca cordage also fell 27.1 percent to $$2.76 million from $3.79 million year-on-year.

Fabric export earnings, meanwhile, rose 67.2 percent to $621, 702 from $371, 736.

Export earnings from fibercrafts rose 61.7 percent to $3.72 million from the previous $2.30 million.

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.

FIDA is currently facilitating the opening of new markers for abaca fiber and other manufactures to offset weak demand from traditional markets.

Abaca production in the first quarter of the year fell 8.13 percent to 15,652 metric tons (MT) against 17,037 MT in the same period last year.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) noted that several municipalities in Leyte and Southern Leyte were affected by bunchy top disease causing production in Eastern Visayas to fall 11.42 percent.

Also affected by the bunchy top disease were farms in Zamboanga Sibugay, particularly those under the Goodyear Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative (GARBEMCO), where production fell 31.50 percent during the period.

BAS said, however, that there were efforts to eradicate the disease.

Abaca farmers in Aklan were also discouraged by weak trading, causing production in the province to drop by 49.31 percent.

Production in the Davao region and Caraga fell 30.57 percent and 10.12 percent respectively due to the onslaught of Typhoon Pablo, the most destructive typhoon to the agricultural sector in 2012.

Favorable weather conditions, on the other hand, resulted to higher abaca production in Catanduanes by 4.16 percent and in Bicol region by 41.59 percent.