Virgin coconut oil export up in Q1

PHILIPPINE Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Euclides G. Forbes reported a 138.65 percent increase in export earnings for Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) for the first quarter of this year with earnings of $7,566,132 compared with figures of the same period last year in the amount
of $ 3,170,394. He added that the first quarter 2012 volume likewise registered an increase of 93.58 percent with 1,719.23 MT compared with last year’s 888.11 MT.

VCO is exported to 27 countries in Asia, Europe and the United States. Forbes said that the first quarter export to France egistered the highest with a 1,011.76 percent increase in value with earnings of $76,000 for this quarter compared with last year’s figure of $6,836. Volume also increased by 662.96 percent with this quarter’s volume recorded at 16.48 MT as against last year’s 2.16 MT.

Forbes bared that export to the following countries registered a big leap in value and volume from last year’s first quarter figures to this year’s export of the same period. These are as follows: Taiwan – up in value of – 912.24 percent – from last year’s $6,600 to $66.808, up in volume from 1.11MT to 35.87MT; Finland – 714.92 percent increase in value from $14,045 to $114,456 and 900.81 percent in volume from 2.47MT to 24.72MT; Hong Kong – up by 549.90 percent in value from $11,907 to $77,384 and 950.57 percent in volume from 1.74 MT to 18.28 MT.; Bermuda – 502.53 percent up in value from $198 to $1,193 and 880 percent increase in volume from 0.05 MT to 0.49; Malaysia – up in value of 471.39 from
$18,276 to $104,428 and an increase of 333.16 percent in volume from 3.89 MT to 16.85MT; New Zealand likewise registered a 349.54 percent increase in value from $12,145 to $54,597 and 390.34 percent in volume from 2.07 MT to 10.15 MT. The US registered a 154.12 percent increase in value from last year’s first quarter earnings of $1,835,199 to this year’s $4,663,582 of the same period and 116.20 percent increase in volume from 488.70 MT to 1,056.59 MT; Germany – up by 143.38 percent in value with $115,890 earnings from last year’s first quarter compared
with that of the same period this year of $282,057 and an increase of 65.95 in volume from 43.61 MT to 72.37 MT.

The administrator added that last year’s total VCO export was a high of 169.74 percent increase in value with $22,498,130 as against $8,340,742 in 2010. It was also up by 79.51 percent in volume with 4,913.50 MT as against 2,737.17 MT the previous year. The administrator attributes increasing demand for VCO to the growing awareness on the health benefits of VCO. He reiterated the announcement of Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala early this year that VCO intake is good for the body based on the PCA sponsored study conducted by the University of Santo Tomas Research Team on the Effect of VCO on Human with Emphasis on Cholesterol.

VCO is obtained from fresh mature, kernel of the coconut by mechanical or natural means with or without the use of heat is suitable for consumption without further processing. PNA