Abaca shipments up 25% in 5 months

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s export earnings from abaca products jumped 24.7 percent in the first five months, driven by strong demand from most major markets.

Latest data from the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) showed that abaca export sales reached $88.5 million in January to May, higher than the $71 million registered in the same period last year.

Abaca pulp accounted for the bulk of export earnings at $71.6 million, 21.8 percent more than the $58.8 million recorded a year ago.

The total volume of abaca pulp exports increased 17.6 percent to 15,766.4 metric tons (MT).

Markets in Europe purchased 13,477.6 MT of abaca pulp during the period, a 35.4 percent increase from the 9,955 MT in the same period last year.

The United Kingdom accounted for bulk of the abaca pulp exported to Europe, while Germany had a sizable share of 31.7 percent

In addition, Sweden posted the largest increase in the volume of abaca pulp exports by 209.5 percent to 130 MT.

Abaca pulp exports to Asian countries also rose four percent to 1,634.06 million.

This was driven by markets such as Japan and China, which posted increases of 22 percent and 29.2 percent, respectively.

In contrast, abaca pulp exports to the United States declined 65.1 percent to 654.71 MT.

Meanwhile, export earnings from abaca raw fiber also increased 34.1 percent to $13.3 million with the volume growing 23 percent to 49,894 bales of 125 kilos.

Similarly, export earnings from abaca cordage jumped 51.9 percent to $2.5 million.

The total volume of abaca cordage exports also surged 49.4 percent to 898 MT.