Oversupply of coconut

THE Philippine Coconut Authority in Davao Region (PCA-11) said the oversupply of coconut produce in the region has reduced the price of whole coconut in the market.

Arnel R. Cabillan, PCA-11 coconut production and regulation officer, said in an interview on Tuesday, September 25, that there has been an oversupply of coconuts since August.

The average price of the whole nut in the local market is presently at P5 per kilograms (kg).

“Kung mapapansin mo sa coconut mills natin sa region marami na rin ang mga supply ng coconut produce at nagkakapunuan na rin ang mga mill, nagpapakita lang ito na marami nga ang nakukuha ng ating mga coconut farmers for this month and last month (If you’ll notice the coconut mills in the region, these are getting filled due to the oversupply of coconut, which only shows the abundance of coconut which our farmers harvest),” Cabillan said.

In a media forum early September this year, Ednar Dayanghirang, chief of staff of Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang, said PCA must be aggressive in regulating the coconut traders to be able to compete given the decreasing price of copra in the global market.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records for the April to June 2018 period, coconut production reached 3.33 million metric tons (MT), 3.9 percent higher than last year’s production of 3.21 million (MT).