Copra shortage has forced coconut oil traders in Kerala and Tamil Nadu to look for alternate sourcing options to meet the demand.
Thalath Mahmood, Director, Coconut Oil Merchants’ Association (COMA), said several traders, including some leading corporate companies engaged in branded coconut oil business, are now looking at sourcing copra from Indonesia, the Andamans and Lakshadweep. However, the quality of such copra is paramount and traders are reportedly waiting for samples before proceeding with contracts.
He attributed the tight supply of copra to increased demand for coconut by-products such as coconut powder, virgin coconut oil, and desiccated coconut. Apart from this, several powder manufacturing companies in Tiptur in Karnataka have started purchasing de-husked coconut from Kasargod at ₹32 per kg to convert it into copra. The daily movement of cargo is estimated at 30-40 loads, he said.
Meanwhile, the coconut oil market both in Kerala and Tamil Nadu is in a buying trend, witnessing a drop of ₹200 per quintal at ₹13,800 and ₹13,200 per quintal respectively. Copra prices also moved southwards, touching ₹9,900 per quintal (₹10,100) in Kerala and ₹9,800 (₹10,000) in Tamil Nadu. However, some corporates have started purchasing copra at higher prices from the open market in the last two days to meet their production requirements, he said.
Representatives of corporate companies were in Kerala last week to carry out a survey on the availability of copra as well as the production scenario in the state for this year, he added.
Bharat Khona, former board member, COMA, said the loose coconut oil market in Tamil Nadu declined to ₹1,850 for 15 kg from ₹1,950. However, due to tight supply, copra arrivals have not picked up in both these states.