Coconut industry continues to suffer effects of El Niño

MANILA, Philippines—The lingering effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon continue to affect the productivity of the local coconut industry as export volume in the first seven months of the year declined significantly, the Philippine Coconut Authority said.

Exports of coconut products dropped by 40.2 percent to 895,215.55 metric tons in January-July 2011 compared with the 1.49 million metric tons in the same period last year.

The PCA said the drought caused by El Niño in 2009 and 2010 affected the country’s coconut farms.

Despite the decline in commodity volume, the value of the country’s coconut products increased. Exports of the country’s coconut products fetched a total of $1.22 billion in the first seven months of the year, up by 34.74 percent, the PCA said.