Volume of outbound coco shipments down 38%

The monthly volume of coconut-based exports fell by 38 percent year-on-year in October even before Supertyphoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ ravaged coconut farms in the Visayas last month.

Preliminary data from the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines (UCAP) showed that the country shipped out in October a total of 109,022 metric tons in copra terms.

But for the 10 months to October, volumes still showed vigorous growth at 35 percent, with a total of 1.72 million MT, as most product categories showed double-digit increase.

January to October shipments of coconut oil revved up 36 percent to 963,419 MT, copra meal by 42 percent to 706,904 MT, desiccated coconut by 26 percent to 102,412 MT and oleochemicals as copra by 44 percent to 28,745 MT.

During the 10-month period, only copra showed negative growth, dropping 79 percent to 93 MT.

In October alone, shipments of top dollar earner coconut oil plunged 45.5 percent to 54,683 MT, as did copra meal which dived 56 percent to 46,749 MT.

Copra meal is the residue left after oil is squeezed out of copra and which is used to make livestock and fishery feeds.

On the other hand, the volume of desiccated coconut exports leaped 27 percent to 11,884 MT while that of oleochemicals rocketed 158 percent to 3,850 MT in copra terms.

In mid-November, following Yolanda’s rampage in central Philippines, the Philippine Coconut Authority cited initial reports that said some 3 million coconut trees suffered varying degrees of damage—“from slight to severe.”

The PCA report, which put the damage at some P1.5 billion, covers coconut farms in Quezon, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Eastern Samar and Leyte.

Earlier, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations warned that the advancing age of trees in the Asia-Pacific region threaten economies and livelihood of those who depend on the coconut.

According to the Bangkok-based Asia-Pacific regional office of the FAO, replanting of coconut trees on a massive scale is required if the coconut producing countries are to meet the world’s rapidly growing demand for coconut products.

The region accounts for 90 percent of the world’s coconut products, such as coconut oil, water and milk, virgin coconut oil, and raw materials such as fibrous materials and timbers used in construction.

The FAO said global demand for coconut products is growing at more than 10 percent yearly, but the production growth is only 2 percent.

The agency noted that a coconut tree reaches its peak production between the age of 10 and 30 years, but most of the trees in the region are about 50 to 60 years old.