Oil and soap manufacturers hit hard by ‘coconut shortage’ in southern Mozambique

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Oil and soap manufacturers hit hard by ‘coconut shortage’ in southern Mozambique

3:01 CAT | 19 May 2022

FILE - Illustrative photo. [File photo: DW]

A total of 17 oil and soap production companies in Inhambane, southern Mozambique, may close due to a shortage of coconut – their main raw material – in the market, an official source said on Wednesday (18-05).

Provincial Director of Agriculture and Fisheries Francisco Feijao argues that the reduction in the supply of coconut to the industrial sector is due to the increased commercialisation of raw coconut, a market traders seem to prefer for reasons linked to both price and ease of sale.

Copra (dried coconut pulp) is sold to oil and soap production companies for five meticais (€0.07) per unit, while fresh coconuts sell in the streets and local markets for 12 to 20 meticais (€0.17 to €0.29), the official quoted in yesterday’s edition of ‘Notícias’ said.

The difference in price is not lost on plantation owners, who have shied away from supplying the processing industry.

The result, Feijão explained, is a reduction in the production of coconut derivatives in Mozambique, with just one ton of coconut oil produced in 2020, against about 6,000 tons in 2018.

Source: Lusa