Maybe somebody else has noticed how the Malasian Oilpalm Oil (Oelin) is invading the Phillipine Vegetable Oil Market, it's cheaper than Coconut oil and it's nice gold coloured, it smells good too. I am wondering how long it will take to kill the Local Coconut Industry because today my Wife went to sell our Copra and came back reporting that the price for fresh Copra has dropped to 7 Php a kilo, I have heard that the guys harvesting the Coconuts will stop harvesting at this price because their share becomes to low...
Just out of curiosity, when and what was the highest price paid? In the mid 90's I ran a small copra hauling ship in Micronesia and it was around 35 cents U.S. per pound. It was purchased by the government copra mill and I don't remember if it was the international price or what the local government was willing to pay. I have watched ton after ton of that bad smelling stuff being carved out of the shell and can't blame anyone not wanting to do such hard work for only peanuts.
The only reverence I found is from 2008 "Since the first week of June, 2008, the price of copra which is processed for various uses especially that of oil, has reached an all time high of P40 to P41 per kilo, the Philippine Coconut Authority manager in the region disclosed." The only recent info on Copra (dried) is on this site:Copra - Monthly Price - Commodity Prices - Price Charts, Data, and News - IndexMundi that quotes a price in metric tons in US$, 945US$ in January and now down to 656US$, no prices for fresh copra in Php. It would probably be very interesting to have a chat with you about your live in Micronesia...
You'll find historical copra prices here for reference: Commercial Crops: Farmgate Prices by Region and by Province, 1990-2012 from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. The problem with Oil Palms is that it only produces one product, unlike coconut palms. And copra, never, ever made the smallholder coconut farmer any better, especially if it's a mono crop. I blogged about my thoughts on this a few years back. Being a copra trader is another matter.
