Export receipts from coconut products in March declined by 60.3 percent to $87.65 million, from $220.77 million recorded in the same period last year, according to data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA).
In terms of volume, PSA data also showed that outward shipments of coconut products fell by 71 percent to 64,899 metric tons (MT) in March, from 223,726 MT a year ago.
The United Coconut Associations of the Philippines said the decline was due to the onslaught of El Niño, which affected the country’s copra output.
Coconut oil (CNO), which registered the biggest decrease in exports, dragged down the total volume of coconut products shipped during the period.
Outward shipments of CNO in March went down by 74.7 percent to 33,728 MT, compared to 133,437 MT posted in the previous year. Revenues from CNO exports reached $39.72 million in March.
About 17,900 MT of CNO shipments during the period consisted of crude oil; 14,100 MT of cochin oil; and 1,728 MT of refined, bleached and deodorized oil.
Top buyers of Philippine coconut oil were Europe, the United States, Japan and China.
Copra-meal exports in March also declined by 7.6 percent to 23,652 MT, from 25,596 MT recorded in the same period in 2014. Its value reached $3.76 million.
The bulk of the copra meal went to South Korea, while the rest were delivered to Vietnam and Taiwan.
Outward shipments of desiccated coconut totaled 4,897 MT, valued at $8.76 million. This is 16.9 percent lower than last year’s exports of 5,894 MT.
The US remained as the top buyer of local desiccated coconut, accounting for 35.8 percent of the total exports. Other top buyers were the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, France, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, shipments of oleochemicals in March rose by 36.8 percent to 3,792 MT, from 2,771 MT.
The country also exported 1,849 MT of coco-shell charcoal; 4,577 MT of activated carbon; 2,490 MT of virgin coconut oil; 6.865 million liters of coconut water; and 1.208 million nuts of fresh coconuts during the period.
