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G.K. Nair

KOCHI, July 17

EXPORTS of coir and coir products during the first quarter of the current fiscal have increased by Rs 12 crore from that of the corresponding period last year.

The April-June 2 exports stood at 19,560 tonnes valued at Rs 82.69 crore as against 16,461 tonnes worth Rs 70.19 crore in the same period in 2001-02 registering an increase of 19 per cent in volume and 18 per cent in value.

There was a remarkable growth in the exports of coir mats and coir pith. Rugs and carpet exports too improved during the period, a senior Coir Board source told Business Line.

There was also an improvement in the unit value of some of the products. The demand for curled coir increased from 94 tonne to 243.4 tonne, he said.

Meanwhile, major items such as coir geotextiles, coir mattings and coir yarn showed a sharp decline, he said.

Coir mattings fell from 1,384 tonnes to 1,232 tonnes while coir yarn dropped to 2,458 tonnes from 3,238 tonnes. Coir geotextiles declined to 328 tonnes from 416 tonnes in April-June 2001, he said.

The growth in demand for coir mats, which was on the decline in recent years, he said, was because of the shift in the consumer preference for coir mats in place of synthetic products.

Besides, its superior functional aspects compared to the mats made of other fibres had paved the way for the consumers to prefer coir mats. ``In fact there is no effective competitor for it''.

The demand for curled coir was on the increase because of its increased use in rubberisation, upholstery and other sectors overseas.

A drop in the manufacturing activities overseas led to the continuous decline in the demand for coir yarn.

Added to this, export of more value-added products from India at competitive prices also led the manufacturing of such coir items abroad uneconomical, he said.

Given this situation, it appeared to be quite unlikely that the exports of this item would increase in the future, he pointed out.

However, the decline in the export of coir yarn was compensated by other value added products, he said.

If this upward trend was maintained the exports during the current fiscal could touch Rs 400 crore as against the target of Rs 425 crore ($85 million) set by the Government, he added.

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