South Sumatra Recalls Fresh Coconut Exports to Thailand

South Sumatra’s fresh coconuts have struggled to penetrate the export market with hundreds of thousands of coconuts sent back from Thailand as the year draws to a close, because they were found to have germinated during shipment, a report in The Jakarta Post said on November 22.  Thailand reportedly rejected the coconuts because they had sprouted and developed into young trees up to 30 centimeters tall. 

According to the Palembang Customs Office, 25 containers containing 625,000 fresh coconuts were recalled from Thailand on November 14.  “The recalled coconuts account for about 30 percent of total coconut exports to Thailand,” Dwi Harmawanto, the office’s spokesperson said.   Dwi said Indonesia had shipped a total of 1,527 containers - or 37.1 million tons of coconuts to Thailand, worth an estimated Rp 89 billion (US$6.2 million) in revenue. 

South Sumatra has exported a total of 5,054 containers of its coconuts (94 million tons) around the world this year. Its primary market is China, where it shipped coconuts worth Rp213 billion in export value.  Fresh coconut is the third most valuable commodity after rubber and palm oil in South Sumatra, where 66,326 hectares of coconut plantations produce 57,732 tons of coconuts per year.  Each municipality and regency in South Sumatra produces an average 1.13 tons of coconuts per year.