10/1/2001 (Philippine Daily) - EXPORT markets for local coconut oil inChina are being eyed to offset the expected drop in export revenues fromsales to Europe and the United States.Danilo Coronacion, administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority, saidthe $900-million coconut industry can be tapped to offset the anticipated15-percent reduction in the country's exports to the US due to theescalating conflict with Muslim extremists.Possible markets include China, South Korea and Japan.Coconut oil, which is extracted from dried coconut meat, is the country'sbiggest farm export product."We will soon sign a product-swap arrangement with China. They would giveus farm machinery and other equipment in exchange for our coconut oil,"Coronacion said.The expected decline in exports to the United States coincided with thedecline in Europe's purchases of Philippine coconut oil. Aside from theuncertainties following the terrorist attacks on the US, the decline wasalso attributed to the more stringent import measures on agriculturalproducts.European countries such as United Kingdom and France clamped down on theentry of agricultural products as they begin to trace the origins of themad cow disease that plagued their cattle industry, causing millions ofdollars in losses."We hope to instead increase our coconut oil exports to South Korea andother Asian countries as a contingency measure since industry expectslower exports to Europe," Coronacion said.PCA and the agriculture department are also looking into other uses forcoconut oil to service both domestic and foreign markets, in a bid tocushion the impact of fluctuating prices in the world market.The domestic market currently absorbs about 20 percent of the coconut oilproduced by the industry and used for commercial and industrialmanufacturing purposes and about 70 percent are exported to the UnitedStates, Europe and to other Asian countries.He said that they would pursue the marketing of coco-diesel andcoco-bunker fuel as substitutes for the expensive fossil fuels now beingsold by local oil firms. Coco-diesel is currently priced at P12 to P12.50per liter while the diesel sold at gas stations are at about P14 to P14.50per liter.The PCA would also push for the use of coconut oil in making detergentsinstead of hard surfactants.The PCA chief expected that export prices of coconut oil would remain lowthis year due to a global oversupply of vegetable oils.Copra prices are estimated to hit $289.50 per metric ton this year, lowerthan the annual average $300 per metric ton price. Last year, copra pricesin the world market averaged $446 per metric ton.