Philippine Export of Coconut Products Up Sharply in April

Official figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed export of coconut products by the Philippines in April leaped 89.5% year-on-year to 227,064 MT in copra terms from 119,850 MT.  Gross export receipts more than doubled at USD353.386 million from USD175.896 million (+100.9%) propelled mainly by high coconut oil volume and border price.
Export of coconut oil rocketed 111.5% to 123,836 MT, the highest monthly total so far during the four-month period to April, from 58,555 MT.  Although growth may have been largely credited to the low base comparison effect, this month volume far exceeded the usual monthly average shipment of 80,000 MT.  Similarly, shipment of byproduct copra meal jumped to nearly double at 26,008 MT from 13,395 MT (+94.2%).  Desiccated coconut likewise boosted export by 29.8% at 14,274 MT from 10,995 MT.  This contrasted with oleochemicals which saw shipment drop by 14.9% at 8,429 MT as copra from 9,906 MT.
Performance of other coconut products is as follows, in MT: coco shell charcoal 9,429 (+5.0% from 8,979 last year), activated carbon 7,455 (+28.9% from 5,782), virgin coconut oil 3,132 (+45.9% from 2,147), coco water 12,461 (+273.6% from 3,335), fresh coconuts 15 (+209.3% from 5), Others 20,938 (-30.1% from 29,976).
The cumulative January-April export stood at 825,607 MT in copra terms, a steep climb by 66.5% from 495,918 MT at the same time last year. Revenue crossed the USD1.000 billion-mark early this year, with total during the four-month period reaching USD1.261 billion from USD710.502 million last year.  
Breakdown of export volume is as follows, in MT:  coconut oil 442,167 (236,704 last year), copra meal 133,737 (80,276), desiccated coconut 59,323 (46,761), oleochemicals as copra 32,036 (47,901); Coco shell charcoal 38,746 (30,863), activated carbon 27,728 (24,762), virgin coconut oil 8,954 (12,207), coco water 37,156 (9,978), fresh coconut 79 (82), Others 84,551 (114,350).

Philippine Export of Coconut Products Up Sharply in April

Export of coconut products by the Philippines in April based on UCAP estimates totaled 222,434 MT in copra terms, rocketing 85.6% from same month last year at 119,850 MT and surpassing by 18.1% the preceding month shipment estimated at 188,265 MT.  The figure is the highest monthly total recorded since June 2019 which then logged 239,100 MT. 

All products but oleochemicals showed steep growth year-on-year.  However, against respective first quarter monthly average data, only copra meal did not fare well.    

Export of coconut oil at 120,013 MT was more than twice last year low base at 58,555 MT (+105.0%) and delivered much of the increment in aggregate coconut products data.  This month level bested the last quarter monthly average at 105,954 MT by 13.3%.   Europe remained a primary destination responsible for almost half (45.8%) of total lifting at 55,000 MT.  The United States cornered nearly a quarter (22.7%) at 27,250 MT, trailed by Malaysia at 17,700 MT (14.7%), Indonesia at 16,000 MT (13.3%) and Japan at 4,063 MT (3.4%).  

Shipment of copra meal at 28,700 MT similarly more than doubled last year figure at 13,395 MT (+114.3%) but was 16.7% short of the monthly average at 34,251 MT.  South Korea led the pack of importers with purchases amounting to 12,600 MT (44.7%), followed by China at 8,300 MT (29.4%), India at 4,000 MT (14.2%), and Vietnam at 3,300 MT (11.7%).  

External trade of desiccated coconut leaped 29.7% to 14,263 MT from 10,995 MT contrasting with oleochemicals which posted a marginal decline by 0.2% at 9,886 MT as copra from 9,906 MT.  Desiccated coconut exceeded the monthly average at 13,923 MT by 2.4%, so too with oleochemicals which was 2.6% above average at 9,633 MT. 

Export in January-April tallied 820,454 MT in copra terms, spiraling upward by 65.4% from 495,918 MT at the same time last year.   All products save for oleochemicals did much better than the preceding year as shown in the following breakdown, MT:  coconut oil 437,874 (236,704 last year), copra meal 131,454 (80,276), desiccated coconut 56,032 (46,761), oleochemicals as copra 38,786 (47,901).