Coconut oil price to fall from present level

Coconut oil price is expected to fall from present level in the next three months on the back of beginning of harvesting season in major growing states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Retail prices of coconut oil has reached Rs 90-100 per kg on the back of production deficit in southern states from an average of Rs 35-40 per kg of oil.

“Retail prices are high in the recent time because of the festive season in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Also, there is production deficit in Kerala due to untimely rainfall in the state in November which push up prices. However, as the harvesting season starts from January onwards, pressure on pricing will ease,” M Thomas Mathew, chief coconut development officer of Coconut Development Board said.

Demand for copra and coconut oil will also slacken as the festive season will be over in January, he added.

Harvesting season in Kerala has already started from the first week of January and it will start in February in Tamil Nadu which will cool up prices, he said. There is an acute shortage of copra in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the past months due to festive season and demand from leading FMCG companies and Ayurvedic manufacturers.

Further, rise in vegetable oil prices in the country due to import duty and other factors have also pushed the prices of coconut oil.

“Price of vegetable oil and coconut oil are positively related. So, coconut oil prices have also witnessed a spurt due to rise in other vegetable oil prices,” Mathew said.

On the production front, he said that production in Tamil Nadu would be in the same level as last year, while Kerala would see a 10-15 per cent drop in production this year. Kerala accounts for around 36 per cent of the 16 billion nuts produced per annum in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu with a share of 34 per cent.

Mathew, also, said that the board was working on number of schemes to increase productivity in the coconut growing regions of the country.