Coco oil exports pick up in January

MANILA, Philippines - Coconut oil exports picked up in January, returning to the average level of monthly exportation volume as traditional buyers replenish stocks, the United Coconut Association of the Philippines said yesterday.

Exports of the commodity reached 79, 250 metric tons (MT) in January, up 87.1 percent from a relatively low baseline of 42, 360 MT in the same month in 2014.

“This is a welcome development since we hit the monthly shipment average of (around) 80,000 MT, but we have to remember that we have a low baseline figure at the start of last year,” said Yvonne Agustin, UCAP executive director.

Traditional buyers, she said, have been replenishing stocks as the price gap between coconut oil and its main substitute, palm kernel oil, narrows.

World market prices of coconut oil now averages $1,137 per MT, still higher than the average price of palm kernel oil at $1,010 per MT.

Agustin said that ample rainfall in the previous months led to the recovery of coconut trees affected by biological stress that usually occurs after three consecutive years of good harvest.

The domestic coconut oil industry failed to hit the coconut oil exportation target of 850,000 MT in 2014, having exported only 795,297 MT as many coconut-producing areas in Central Philippines continue to suffer from the effect of Typhoon Yolanda last in 2013.

For this year, the industry has set a lower export target of 804,000 MT as coconut-producing areas affected by the typhoon may take four to five years more to fully recover.

Agustin said the industry is now setting its sights on the Bicol region as source of copra as Central Philippines may not be able to significantly contribute to the production of raw material for coconut oil production.