Coir product exports may go up by 10%

The coir product export is expected to increase by 10 per cent in 2005 from 100,770 MT last year. In 2004 the total export recorded an increase of 6.2 per cent over the exports of 2003. India and Sri Lanka are the main coir product exporters to the world market.

The import demand for the coir products has been growing annually by 9.7 per cent in Asian countries for the last ten years. The import demand for coir product in China is growing at 31.8 per cent a year. The import demand for the developed countries is stable at one per cent.

The most outstanding increase on the exported products in 2004 was reported on geotextile at 31.6 per cent followed by coir pith 30.8 per cent, coir mats 25.8 per cent, and coir rug and carpet 19.55 per cent.

Coir yarn was also up but at a lower rate of 10.6 per cent.

The coir products that experienced a negative growth were coir fiber at 4.9 per cent, coir matting 2.4 per cent, rubberized coir 11.82 per cent and curled coir 81.1 per cent.

"The price trend of the commodities varied across the product types. About 60 per cent of the coir products sold in April 2004 were experiencing an increasing trend price. Price of coir mats was up to $ 1,472 per MT from $ 1,268 per MT of April 2003, coir mattings ($ 1,482) increased by 22 per cent.

Prices of rubberized coir and geotextile were also up by $ 59 and $ 87 per MT, respectively, over the average prices in 2003. The price of coir pith was also up to $ 181 per MT from $ 150 per MT, an increase of 20.7 per cent" said P Rethinam, executive director, Asian and Pacific Coconut Community, Jakartha.

Sri Lanka exported five kinds of coir products in 2004. The products include mattress fiber, bristle fiber, twisted fiber, coir yarn, coir twine, rope, and coir fiber pith.

The exported volume was up significantly compared to last year, except for the twisted fiber and bristle. Total export of the coir products was up to 62,033 MT from 50,900 MT of 2003, up 22 per cent. The total demand of coir products in the world market is increasing steadily as indicated by the export volume of Sri Lanka and India in 2004.

"One of the most promising products is geotextile which is used as shield against wind or water erosion to cover soil while re-vegetation takes place and used as separators in road construction.China is a promising market for the geotextile. The country is now looking for the suppliers, and started negotiating with Philippines as one of the geotextile producers to fulfill its requirement," said Mathew Joseph, managing director, Palm Fibre.