Coconut oil exports from the Philippines, the world's biggest shipper, probably slipped 4.9 percent in February from the same month last year, and a trader said strong domestic prices would limit shipments in March.
The Southeast Asian country exported 43,625 tonnes in February, compared with 45,895 tonnes in the same month last year, the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines, Inc (UCAP) said on Friday, quoting preliminary data.
The initial numbers in February were boosted by the delayed arrival of a ship that was supposed to load 9,000 tonnes of coconut oil in January, a UCAP official said.
The exports last month brought shipments in the first two months of the year to 71,728 tonnes, down 45 percent from the 130,760 tonnes in the same period last year, a UCAP researcher said.
A slew of typhoons late last year battered around 9 percent of the country's coconut-growing area and the Philippine Coconut Authority has said coconut oil exports this year will likely fall 30 percent to an eight-year low of 750,000 tonnes. "Exports will be low due to the effect of the typhoons last year," a trader with one of the country's largest coconut oil miller said.
"Sellers are also diverting a lot of supplies in the domestic market," the same trader said. "In fact, the domestic price of coconut oil is trading at a premium of $30-$40 per tonne from the current export price of around $700 per tonne FOB."
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