Coconut industry eyed as next major source of employment
April 16, 2011
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – The government identified the coconut industry as the next priority focus in jobs generation, which can widen its reach to the barangays and involve unskilled labor, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said during the 1st National Coco Coir Summit held recently in Davao City.
The coconut industry, Domingo said is a priority industry as it can generate more jobs both in the barangays and cities along the value chain from production, processing, trading and exporting.
The coco coir sub-sector in particular, has tremendous potentials in the export market. What is needed is to match the required raw material supply which is abundant nationwide, especially in Mindanao based on the production statistics, Secretary Domingo said. “The coco coir industry can provide more job opportunities in the country-side, what is needed to maximize the potentials of the industry and address the gaps.” He said.
Among the various new industrial products that are expected to boost the demand for coir are: (1) Binderless boards - high density, high performance boards made from pure coconut husk with the lignin component as natural binder; (2) Cement-bonded boards - coir as main component of medium density cement bonded boards for housing and packaging materials; (3) Concrete rooftile - being rust-free makes it suitable for houses along coastal areas; (4) Resin-bonded boards - made by impregnating a coir mat with phenol formaldehyde resin and curing it under heat and pressure; (5) Insulator pads for exports of fire retardant rubberized coir padding from the Philippines.
The Summit endorsed the Philippine Coco Coir Industry Development Plan following the value chain approach, with a vision of a “ten-fold” growth for the industry translated in terms of 400% exports increase by 2016 or US$6.5M and expanded local market base.
Global demand of coco coir (fiber and peat) is enormous. Baled fiber, which remains to be leading export products has China as the biggest market accounting for 51% of the total world absorption in 2008.
Sri Lanka and India are the major producers and exporters. Sri Lanka exported 151,061 MT composed of coir (mattress fiber), bristle, twisted fiber, yarn and twine. India whose coco coir production reached 430,000 MT in 2007 exported a composite volume of 83,094 MT.
The Philippines, on the other hand, has an estimated potential production supply of 15,124 B nuts or 6,033M MT. Mindanao accounts for 59% or 3,587,386 MT of husks. The estimated husk supply available for coir production is 2.4MT or 40%.
In terms of coco husk processing, Philippine Coconut Authority has registered a limited number of registered coco coir producer/ processors, with combined installed capacity of 21,300 MT/year.
Undersecretary for Regional Operations Merly Cruz also emphasized the potential tenfold growth of the Philippine coco coir industry given the country’s vast areas planted with coconut and the nut production performance which is second only only to Indonesia.
The coconut industry, Domingo said is a priority industry as it can generate more jobs both in the barangays and cities along the value chain from production, processing, trading and exporting.
The coco coir sub-sector in particular, has tremendous potentials in the export market. What is needed is to match the required raw material supply which is abundant nationwide, especially in Mindanao based on the production statistics, Secretary Domingo said. “The coco coir industry can provide more job opportunities in the country-side, what is needed to maximize the potentials of the industry and address the gaps.” He said.
Among the various new industrial products that are expected to boost the demand for coir are: (1) Binderless boards - high density, high performance boards made from pure coconut husk with the lignin component as natural binder; (2) Cement-bonded boards - coir as main component of medium density cement bonded boards for housing and packaging materials; (3) Concrete rooftile - being rust-free makes it suitable for houses along coastal areas; (4) Resin-bonded boards - made by impregnating a coir mat with phenol formaldehyde resin and curing it under heat and pressure; (5) Insulator pads for exports of fire retardant rubberized coir padding from the Philippines.
The Summit endorsed the Philippine Coco Coir Industry Development Plan following the value chain approach, with a vision of a “ten-fold” growth for the industry translated in terms of 400% exports increase by 2016 or US$6.5M and expanded local market base.
Global demand of coco coir (fiber and peat) is enormous. Baled fiber, which remains to be leading export products has China as the biggest market accounting for 51% of the total world absorption in 2008.
Sri Lanka and India are the major producers and exporters. Sri Lanka exported 151,061 MT composed of coir (mattress fiber), bristle, twisted fiber, yarn and twine. India whose coco coir production reached 430,000 MT in 2007 exported a composite volume of 83,094 MT.
The Philippines, on the other hand, has an estimated potential production supply of 15,124 B nuts or 6,033M MT. Mindanao accounts for 59% or 3,587,386 MT of husks. The estimated husk supply available for coir production is 2.4MT or 40%.
In terms of coco husk processing, Philippine Coconut Authority has registered a limited number of registered coco coir producer/ processors, with combined installed capacity of 21,300 MT/year.
Undersecretary for Regional Operations Merly Cruz also emphasized the potential tenfold growth of the Philippine coco coir industry given the country’s vast areas planted with coconut and the nut production performance which is second only only to Indonesia.
No comments:
Post a Comment