Market Intelligence (Coconut)

Domestic demand

At present India produces about 10 lakh tonnes of copra annually of which about 2 lakh tonnes is of confectionery or edible grade and 8 lakh tonnes milling grade. The edible copra produced in Malabar region is specially preferred in India and abroad because of its attractive colour and sweetness.

In recent years, however, the use of coconut oil by the industry has been declining because of its high price in the country in the recent past. The toilet soap industry in India uses coconut oil only if its price is below Rs. 35 per kg. If it is more, there are substitutes available which are much cheaper to use than coconut oil. At present India produces about 11614 tonnes of coconut oil annually, of which about 50 per cent is absorbed by the toiletry sector (in hair oils, toilet soaps, shampoos, etc), 35 per cent by the households for cooking purposes and 15 per cent is used by confectionery and ice-cream industry. Earlier the toilet soap industry used to consume 23 per cent of the coconut oil produced in the country but now its consumption has dropped to just 5 per cent. The use of coconut oil as hair oil in India, however, has been rising.