Coconut Oil Prices Soar on Global Supply Dip
28-Jul-2025 03:47 PM
Kochi. For the last few months, there has been a strong uptrend in the domestic market price of coconut, copra and coconut oil, the main reason for which is said to be the reduction in its supply and availability at the global level and adverse weather.
During the last one year, there has been a huge increase in the prices of palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and mustard in the domestic segment.
Similarly, the price of coconut oil has almost doubled since January 2025. Its retail price in Kerala has jumped to a peak of Rs 460 per kg, which is even higher than the price of sesame oil, while traditionally sesame oil is considered the most expensive.
Indonesia and the Philippines are considered to be the world's leading exporters of copra and coconut oil. But due to the El Nino weather cycle, coconut plantations in both these countries of South-East Asia suffered heavy losses during the 2023-24 season (July-June) and its production fell sharply.
Since coconut takes about a year to mature, the effect of decline in production is now being seen. In many plantations, coconut trees have become very old and their productivity has decreased.
On the other hand, there is stagnation or decline in the production of coconut oil in India. The country produces about 5.70 lakh tons of coconut oil annually, out of which 3.90 lakh tons is used as edible oil and the remaining 1.80 lakh tons is used in cosmetics and other industries.
Coconut oil is used as edible oil mainly in Kerala, while it is also used in limited quantity in Tamil Nadu. In India, palm oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil account for about 72 percent of the consumption of edible oils, the bulk of which is imported from abroad.
Kerala was earlier the largest producer of coconut, but now it has fallen behind Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to the third position.
The average per capita economic consumption of coconut oil in Kerala is only 2 liters, while the consumption of palm oil is 4 liters.
Due to low consumption in India, common consumers in other states except Kerala are not facing any major problem due to the sharp rise in the prices of coconut oil but the industries are getting adversely affected.