Market Review of Coconut Fiber
November 2021
Amid the economic challenges caused by the pandemic, global market of coir products showed an impressive performance. The main producing countries like India, Sri Lanka dan Indonesia enjoyed an increase in their exports for the products. During April 2020-March 2021, India was still able to accelerate its exports of coir products to global market. A total volume of 1.16 million tons of coir and coir products were shipped from India to the global market during the period. The volume hiked by 18% as opposed to the period of April 2019-March 2020 and created export revenue of Rs. 27,579 million or equivalent to US$374.68 million. Coir pith was constituted for 71% of total volume and contributed 61% of the total export revenue. It is worth noting that during the last decade Indian export of the products rose significantly with CAGR of 12.3%. Coir pith is still the largest contributor to the Indian export earnings from coir products.
Table 1. Export Volume (MT) of Coir Products from India, 2017-2021 (April-March)
Indian export destinations of coir products cover more than 100 countries worldwide. China and South Korea are the main importers in the Asian continent followed by USA in the American continent. Meanwhile, Netherlands and Spain are the biggest importers in Europe.
In Sri Lanka, export earnings of coir products during last ten months recorded an increase of 21% as opposed to previous year’s value. Total export value of the products reached US$211.82 million during January-October 2021. Moulded coir products used for horticulture were the country’s highest contributor to the export revenue during the period. Export value of moulded coir products which were mainly used for horticulture was US$147.2 million, accounting for more than 69% of the total export value of coir based products. The export value was 29% higher compared to the previous year’s value. In terms of volume, export of the product was higher by 21% compared to the volume a year earlier. Other products that significantly contributed to the export earnings were mattress fibre, and coir pith.
Table 2. Export of Coir Products from Sri Lanka, January-October 2021
Sri Lankan coir products were shipped to more than 117 countries around the globe. USA, Mexico and Canada were the main destinations in American continent. Meanwhile, China, Japan and South Korea were the main importers in Asia. In Europe, UK, Netherlands, and France were the biggest importers in the continent.
Figure 1. Export Destinations of Coir Moulded Products used for Horticulture from Sri Lanka,
January-October 2020/21
Source: Coconut Development Authority (CDA), Sri Lanka
Unlike India and Sri Lanka, Indonesian export of coir products is dominated by raw fibre; coir fibre and coir pith. During January-August 2021, export volume of coir based products from Indonesia recorded an increase by 6% from 25,528 MT to 27,115 MT in 2020. which lower than previous year volume of 15,869 MT. However in terms of value, the export scaled up by 2.1% reflecting higher prices of the products. China was still major destination for coir from Indonesia. During the period, more than 75% of coir products from Indonesia was sent to China. Other destinations include South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Coir fibre and coir pith were the main products sent from Indonesia to global market.
Figure 2. Export destination of Coir Products from Indonesia,
January—August 2021 (MT)
Source: BPS-Statistics Indonesia
In third quarter of 2021, price of coir showed an increasing trend in Sri Lanka but decreasing trend in Indonesia. Price of coir fibre in Sri Lanka was US$107/MT in December 2020 and was gradually leveling up to reach US$143/MT in October 2021 accounting for price appreciation by 33.5%. In contrast, price of coir fibre in Indonesia showed a negative trend, especially in the third quarter 0f 2021. Price of coir fibre in December 2020 was USD313/MT and leveled up to US$330/MT in June 2021, but then went down to US$220/MT in October 2021.
Figure 3. Average Monthly Price of Coir Fibre
January 2013 – September 2021 (US$/MT)
