Trade pattern (Coir)

Export pattern

India and Sri Lanka are the main exporters of the coir products in the world market.  While India exported 1,22,927 tonnes of coir and coir products during 2004-05, valued at Rs. 473.40 crores, Sri Lanka exported as much as 1,78,473 tonnes during 2004 (Cocomunity, Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 4).  India’s export rose to 1,36,027 tonnes valued Rs. 508.45 crores during 2005-06 (Government of Kerala, 2007, p. 437). This rose further to 1,68,755 tonnes valued at Rs 605.17 crore during 2006-07.

Pattern of export of coir and coir products from India

Export of Coir and Coir products from India during the period 2006-07 recorded an all
time high level with impressive increase in both quantity and value. In value terms, the coir
exports stood at 605.16 crores attaining 19% growth in value by exporting 1.68 lakh tonne of Coir
Products. The increase recorded in quantity is 32727 tonne and in value it is Rs.96.71 crores.

During 2005-06, export of handloom mats, tufted mats, powerloom mat, coir fibre, coir pith, rubberized coir and coir geotextiles have shown an increase both in terms of value and quantity compared to 2004-05. The items such as handloom mattings, power loom mattings, coir ruges and carpets, coir rope, other sorts of coir and semi finished item has decreased both in value and quantity in 2005-06 and items such as Handloom mats, Tufted mats, Coir pith, Handloom mattings, Geo textiles, Rubberized coir, Coir fibre and Curled coir shows an increasing trend in 2006-07. India’s export rose to 1,36,027 tonnes valued Rs. 508.45 crores during 2005-06. This again rose further to 1,68,755 tonnes valued at Rs 605.17 crore during 2006-07. The following table shows the item-wise export of coir and coir products from India during 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Item-wise export of coir and coir products from India during 2004-05 to 2006-07

Handloom mat and tufted mat were the main products, which accounted for 45.67 percent of the quantity and 75.32 percent of the value in 2006-07. Although coir pith accounted for 39.79% of the quantity exported it contributed only 8.89% of the export earnings. At the same time, coir yarn contributed 5.74% of the quantity and 5.22% of the value. The other notable products in value terms were handloom mattings (3.88%), geotextiles (2.20%), Rubberized coir (1.14%) and Coir fibre (1.77%). The following table shows the percentage composition of export of coir products during 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Composition of export Share of coir products during 2004-05 and 2006-07 (Share in %)

The export of value added products such as handloom mats, Powerloom mats, powerloom mattings, Coir ruges & carpet, geotextiles, Coir and other sorts, Coir rope and semi-finished items such as coir yarn decreased both in terms of quantity and value compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. At the same time, the proportion of value added products in Sri Lankan exports registered a significant increase during this period. The following pie diagram shows the composition of export of coir products during 2006-07.

According to Coir Board statistics, The number of countries importing coir and coir products from India increased to 97 from 91 last year. USA continues to be the largest importer of Indian coir products with a share of 22.67% in quantity and 36.68% in value followed by Netherlands with (15.86%), South Korea (7.77%), UK (6.17%), Spain (6.09%), Republic of China (5.12%), Germany (4.54%), Italy (4%), Australia (3.56%), and Canada (2.27%). Among the countries, USA stands first with regard to import of major share of handloom mats, tufted mats, coir geo textiles and powerloom mat. The biggest market for coir yarn and coir pith is Netherlands and for coir handloom marketing UK stands first.The following table shows the country-wise export of coir and coir products from India during 2006-07.

Country-wise export of coir and coir products from India during 2006-07

The following pie diagram shows major export markets for coir products of India during April 2006 to March 2007.

USA accounted for 52% share of handloom mats, tufted mats, coir yarn, and coir geotextiles exported from India, followed by UK, Germany and Netherlands. The market composition may be seen from the following pie diagram given below.

Source:Coir Board