Business   

CDB’s efforts to export raw nuts pay dividends

KOCHI: Kochi-based Coconut Development Board’s (CDB) efforts to popularise the use of coconut oil and export of raw nuts to newer markets is finding success.

During the last month, one container of 18,000 raw coconuts was exported to the UAE from the Kochi port, said Minnie Mathew, chairperson of CDB. According to her, the success of exports to West Asia and other newer markets depended on fulfilling the importers’ specifications of the weight of the nut, the size and its maturity. She said private entrepreneurs in the State were now readying themselves for further shipments of raw nuts to West Asia.

The CDB recently participated in a show at Muscat along with several entrepreneurs. The discussions held by the board officials and the Indian entrepreneurs with retail market chains there revealed the possibilities and potential for products such as coconut oil, virgin coconut oil, traditional coconut mixes and convenience foods.

Exports of coconut and coconut oil from this country were more than 1,000 years old. The aromatic coconut oil from Kerala reached the shores of Europe and Persia in wooden barrels centuries ago. The quality of the Indian coconut oil and the predominance of Kochi Port as a gateway for trade and commerce were assumed to be the reasons for this flourishing trade.

Prior to the first World War, the exports of coconut oil from India was in the region of 9,000 tonnes per annum. During this period, edible copra was also being exported in substantial quantities. But in the subsequent periods, particularly from the 1950s, India’s role in the world trade witnessed a rapid decline. The wide gap between international prices and the domestic prices contributed significantly to the decline.

The price of Indian coconut oil used to be almost double the price of coconut oil from other competing countries. The situation was, however, rapidly changing. The world coconut oil prices were rising. The devastation of large coconut growing tracts in Sri Lanka by the Tsunami in December 2004 had adversely affected coconut production in the island country. The prevailing price of coconut oil in Sri Lanka was Rs.90,000 per tonne. The prices of coconut oil in the Philippines was almost on par with the domestic prices in India. There was, therefore, an emerging opportunity for the export of coconuts and coconut oil from here, said CDB sources in Kochi.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Debt waiver package characterises budget
Efficient use of rolling stock earns more profits for Railways
Amendments proposed in the Finance Bill, 2008
CDB’s efforts to export raw nuts pay dividends

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu