Coconut, oil exports to the Gulf perk up; relief to growers

KOCHI: With coconut and coconut oil prices remaining in the lower range, exports, particularly to Gulf countries, are looking up, bringing relief to growers. But competition from other coconut producing countries such as Sri Lanka remains a concern.
Coconut exports have shown a 50% rise in quantity and a 22% increase in value till July this year and the trend has been continuing.During the 2011-12 season, 24,345 tonne of coconuts valued at around Rs 52 crore were shipped from India.
A lean season has led to a slight increase in the price of coconuts. But the nuts are fetching better prices in the Gulf. The price of coconut is dependent on the coconut oil price, which has been remained more or less steady at around Rs 60 per kg.
"We buy big-size coconuts for Rs 10 a piece and sell it in the Gulf at Rs 13 to 13.15," said Sajith, general manager of Fair Exports India, which regularly exports fresh coconuts to Gulf countries.
The firm sends around 14 containers, each with 50,000 coconuts to the Gulf every month. Fair Exports buys more from Tamil Nadu now as availability in Kerala has come down partly due to the ongoing Sabarimala pilgrimage season.
"We go for bigger sizes which get good prices in the Middle East," he said. Lanka has been a competitor for India in exports. The earlier ban on the export of coconuts to keep them for local consumption in Sri Lanka had benefitted India. "Sri Lanka ships coconuts at a rate cheaper than India's," said Mohammed Ashraf, MD of Olive Exports.