Coco oil exports down 18% due to ‘Yolanda’ damage

The devastating effects of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on coconut farms is now being felt as the monthly volume of coconut oil exports fell 18 percent year-on-year to 70,900 metric tons in February, according to the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (Ucap).

Ucap Executive Director Yvonne Agustin told reporters that for the first two months of 2014, shipments plunged 35 percent to 143,870 MT.

The shrinking of export volumes was attributed to low deliveries of copra, especially from Yolanda-affected areas, Agustin said.

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) counted 34 million coconut trees suffering damage in Samar, Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas after Yolanda’s rampage in November 2013. Of this number, almost half or 45 percent was totally damaged.

Had these 34 million trees been spared, they were supposed to be producing about 245,000 MT of copra a year, according to calculations by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

Last February, Ucap said CNO exports were forecast to materially decline by 24.5 percent to 850,000 MT amid expectations of reduced harvest.

The expected total CNO cargo for this year falls short by 8.8 percent of the 932,555 MT average posted in the past three years.

Overall coconut output is expected to drop by 13.5 percent to 2.4 million metric tons this year after the devastation of millions of trees in the wake of typhoons “Pablo” and “Yolanda.”