Despite the peak festival season demand, coconut oil market is moving southwards registering a 15.5 per cent drop in prices.
Thalath Mahmood, Director, Cochin Oil Merchants Association (COMA), cited low corporate demand and a decline in local consumption as the reasons for a subdued demand. “Main buyers are abstaining from the market, which is witnessing a selling pressure,” he said. The prices are now hovering at ₹14,000/quintal compared to ₹15,000 in the previous week. In September, the rates had touched ₹16,500/quintal, he said adding that copra prices too, in the past two weeks, have dropped from ₹10,200 to ₹9,400 a quintal.
However, there is a strong upcountry demand, especially for branded oils, thanks to the festival season in north India. There is a good availability of copra in the market and this is likely to push up the prices in the ensuing harvest season.
Bharat Khona, a former board member of the Coconut Development Board, said a drop in demand has forced corporates to stay away from the market who are awaiting to venture a stabilisation in the prices.