Govt to develop export potential of coco coir

The government has allotted as much as P160 million for the purchase of equipment to produce products made of coco coir, a natural fiber made from coconut husks. Philippine Coconut Authority administrator Euclides Forbes said that while manufacturers might still not be able to export next year, they will be able to sell their products in the domestic market. “[W]hatever we produce will be available to local buyers and users," he said. The equipment purchase is part of the government's objective of pushing non-traditional coconut products, such as coconut water and virgin coconut oil. According to official data, the country grows 12 billion coconuts a year. However, the country has not been able to make full use of coco coir due to low buying, the high cost of transportation, a limited market awareness, the lack of mature technology and the lack of financing and policy support, said the Philippine Coco Coir Exporters Association (Philcoir). The PCA estimates that utilizing even half of the husks produced, or six billion, and processing them into fabrics and organic fertilizers could yield at least $225 million in annual export receipts. For every kilo of coconut husk, 300 grams of fiber (coir) can be extracted, and the rest is cocopeat. Cocopeat, or coir pith or cocodust, can also be used or sold as organic fertilizer. The global market for coir and cocopeat includes China, which Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala noted imports as much as 200,000 metric tons (MT) of coir every year; and Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. At the National Coco Coir Summit in April 2011, stakeholders lobbied for incentives such as exemptions from value-added tax (VAT) imposed on local sales and income tax holidays for new investments and ventures. Sri Lanka is the world’s biggest coir exporter with 150,000 MT sold in 2010,  30 times the amount the Philippines shipped in the same year. — BM, GMA News