Rep. Joey Salceda, vice chair of the House agriculture and food committee, advised the Philippine Coconut Authority to grab the chance of marketing coconut oil as a viable substitute for palm oil, whose prices have been rising due to limited inventories.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, vice chair of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, told the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to seize the opportunity to increase coconut oil production and marketing since palm oil prices are expected to rise globally.
Salceda said as palm oil prices increase, the country’s coconut oil could become a viable substitute and could increase demand globally if it is marketed well.
“Coconut is the country’s top Agri export. We are the world’s best in coconut production. So, this is a super crop for us. And the opportunity is presenting itself,” Business Mirror quoted Salceda.
Salceda mentioned that future prices of palm oil for January have already increased by almost 20 percent this month, while the typical drop in output during the rainy season is expected to be even sharper in Malaysia and Indonesia this year due to La Niña.
Based on the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, inventories are down to 4.04 million tons by the end of August, compared to 5.91 million tons at the end of June.
“Coconut oil is a substitute, especially for feed additives. So, there is an opportunity to boost our export sales from coconut oil, if we can market this right,” Salceda said.
He further said that the coconut farmgate prices are down 10.15 percent year-on-year even though the prices are going up every month.
Salceda noted the relatively-cheap copra prices are an opportunity to boost the country’s export sales of coconut oil.
“Coconut oil, at CIF, is already at US$ 1,100.00, while palm oil is at 1,065. If palm oil prices tick up faster, coconut oil could become a more viable substitute,” he said.
The solon also sees an opportunity to reduce palm oil smuggling through the use of domestic crude coconut oil, especially as it is now, by some accounts, cheaper than feed-grade palm oil.
He urged the PCA to find ways to market Philippine coconut oil as a viable alternative to palm oil as futures prices continue to rise and to help our coconut farmers get into the export trade or at least benefit from it.
“The first step is for the PCA to use whatever resources can be sourced from the Coconut Industry Development Trust Fund, or the Coco Levy funds, to implement export development and marketing programs to seize on this window of opportunity,” he said.
“It could be just a six-month window, so time is of the essence here,” Salceda added.
Tags: #PCA, #CoconutFarmers, #CoconutOilProduction