The Hindu Business Line : Demand revival peps up coir exports

EXPORTS of coir and coir products during the first two months of the current fiscal have shown an increase of over Rs 9 crore over the corresponding period last year.

Usually, April-May is the lean period and hence the improvement in the exports "is somewhat unusual", a senior official of the Coir Board told Business Line.

He said normally exports picked up in the peak period from October to December. Last year because of the strike here in the co-operative manufacturing sector during this period some of the concluded orders were cancelled and that might have been revived in April-May. Coir mats, geo-textiles, coir yarn and coir pith had shown improvements while coir mattings, rugs and carpets, rubberised coir and coir rope continued to decline, he said.

The demand for coir mattings, used for wall-to-wall carpeting, is on the downward trend, as its slot had been taken over by other soft natural fibre and synthetic products in attractive design and at competitive price, he pointed out.

Similarly, coir rope used in agriculture sector, especially in the vineyards, had also been replaced with plastic ropes. However, the functional benefits of coir mats, coir pith and coir geo-textiles had developed a shift in the consumer preference for it in the overseas market. This phenomenon was reflected in the exports of these items, he said.

During April-May 7,375 tonnes of coir mats valued at Rs 45.40 crore were exported as against 5,555 tonnes valued at Rs 35.41 crore in the same period last year. Exports of coir geo-textiles stood at 452 tonnes valued at Rs 1.87 crore as against 291 tonnes worth Rs 1.46 crore while coir pith increased to 4,372 tonne valued at Rs 4.91 crore from 3,607 tonnes worth Rs 2.94 crore.

Coir yarn, which had been showing a decline last fiscal, had shown a marginal improvement now. As against 1,816 tonne valued at Rs 4.77 crore in April-May last fiscal, 1,958 tonne worth Rs 5.20 crore were exported this year, he said.

The shift towards biodegradable natural products in the western world was making a positive impact on the exports of coir products. The total exports of coir and coir products in April-May 2003 stood at 15,477 tonnes valued at Rs 63.21 crore as against 13,089 tonnes worth Rs 53.98 crore, he added.

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