Coconut oil exports dip by 54.1% in Q1

The volume of coconut oil exports, the country's top agriculture export, dropped by over half in the first quarter due to limited copra supply.

According to the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP), coconut oil exports contracted by 54.1 percent to 174,210 metric tons (MT) from 379,470 MT a year earlier.
 
For the month of March, coconut oil exports dipped by 61.9 percent to 59,950 MT from 157,170 MT in the same comparable period.

UCAP executive director Yvonne Agustin said copra supply remains tight because "most coconut trees are still stressed after two successive years of good production" and because Typhoon Yolanda flattened plantations in the Visayas last November.
 
“It’s a double whammy for the industry,” she said.
 
Despite the lower volume, the average world market price for coconut oil is at $1,389 per MT, slightly higher than the $1,378 per MT average price of its substitute palm kernel oil.

“It’s a good thing that prices of palm kernel oil [were] able to catch up faster in March. A wider gap in the prices may result to buyers shifting to palm kernel oil, which is a cheaper alternative,” Agustin said.
 
This year, UCAP targets to export 850,000 MT coconut oil, lower than the 1.1 million MT in 2013 after the effects of Yolanda. — JDS, GMA News