Businesses urge the government to take emergency measures to save the ailing national coconut processing industry.
acing a local fruit shortage, Indonesia’s coconut processing industry is urging the government to restrict shipments of the commodity abroad, including those shipped illegally.
The long dry season, caused by El Nino phenomenon, sent whole coconut production into a slump, according to Anro Simanjuntak, head of the coconut industry and various products division at the Indonesian Coconut Processing Industry Association (HIPKI).
The commodity is expected to see a 31 percent year-on-year (yoy) production decline this year. The industry is estimated to suffer a total of Rp 4.3 trillion (US$266.9 million) in losses in 2024 due to the shortage.
“The domestic coconut processing industry has been short of raw materials [whole coconuts] since October 2024,” Anro said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as reported by Kompas.
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El-Niño, which emerged from mid-2023 to the first quarter of this year, caused coconut flowers or fruit buds to fall off because they did not get enough water, he explained.
Anro went on to say that the problem was exacerbated by the increase of whole coconut exports and illegal shipments to foreign buyers, namely China, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
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