Coconut oil production needs boost, says Salceda

Expecting an increase in the global price of palm oil, House ways and means chairperson Joey Salceda on Monday urged the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to boost coconut oil production and marketing, saying it could be a “substitute good.”

Salceda said that the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) price of coconut oil is already at $1,100 while palm oil is at $1,065. He said that future prices of palm oil are already up by 20% this month.

“Coconut is the country’s top agri export. We are the world’s best in coconut production. So this is a super crop for us. And the opportunity is presenting itself,” the vice chairperson of the House committee on agriculture and food said.

Salceda said the PCA can tap funds and resources from the Coconut Industry Development Trust Fund or the Coco Levy funds "to implement export development and marketing programs to seize on this window of opportunity."

“So, I am calling on the Philippine Coconut Authority to find ways to market Philippine coconut oil as a viable alternative to palm oil as futures prices continue to rise, and to help our coconut farmers get into the export trade or at least benefit from it,” he said.—LDF, GMA News