ROBUST demand for various coconut products, particularly coconut oil, in foreign markets will enable the Philippines to earn around $2 billion in export receipts from various coconut products, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) said on Thursday.
PCA Administrator Euclides Forbes disclosed that around 80 percent of the export receipts projected for the year is expected to come from coconut oil.
“Based on the sales recorded so far, the value of coconut products that the Philippines shipped out this year could reach $2 billion,” said Forbes at the sidelines of the Livestock Philippines 2011 which kicked off in Pasay City on Thursday.
Based on PCA figures for January to July, the agency noted that the value of exports went up by almost 35 percent to $1.22 billion during the period.
Export receipts from coconut oil (CNO)—the Philippines’s top farm export—increased by 30.78 percent to $923.45 million. At an average exchange rate of P42 to the greenback, CNO sales reached P38.7 billion in January to July.
In 2010 export earnings from coconut products reached $1.57 billion, or P68 billion at an exchange rate of P43.83 to the dollar. This is 77.63 percent higher than the $884 million posted in 2009 according to PCA.
Apart from coconut oil, the country also exports desiccated coconut, coco shell charcoal and activated carbon.
To increase export receipts from coconut products, the Philippines is looking to expand its shipments of coconut water and coco sugar.
Based on market demand, PCA forecasts copra production at a range of 2.4 to 2.5 million metric tons (MMT), 12 percent lower than the 2010 copra production pegged at 2.8 MMT.
Meanwhile, Forbes disclosed that the government has allocated funds to replant 13 million coconut trees all over the Philippines starting next year.
The PCA is also targeting to fertilize 20 million senile coconut trees.
With its replanting and fertilization program, the PCA chief expects coconut production to reach 3 MMT possibly by next year.
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By: Jennifer A. Ng
Source: Business Mirror, December 8, 2011
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