Coir exporters bank on strong dollar to recover past losses

Financial Express

18 Sept. 2008

 

Coir exporters are banking on the strengthening of the dollar to recoup losses suffered in the recent past, traders say. Coir exports have suffered loss due to the slow down in European and US economies and are reporting a decline in the past few months. With the Indian Rupee weakening against the dollar, exporters see an opportunity in pruning the rates and regaining the losses, Coir Shippers Council Secretary KC Eapen told FE.

 

During the last FY, the coir sector suffered reverses due to the strengthening of the Indian Rupee and incremental coir exports were carried out at declining unit value. While volume of exports increased by 10.5% during 2007-08, when compared with the previous FY, value dropped by 2.7%. "Rupee has come down by almost Rs 6-8 when compared to the same period last year. This should help exporters in bringing more volumes," Eapen said. He added that India has a monopoly in the export of coir and with the only deciding factor being rates, the declining rupee opens new markets for exporters.

 

As per the provisional figures of the Coir Board, export of coir and coir products dropped by 23.12 % during August alone, while value showed a decline of 15.91%. However, the cumulative exports for the current FY (April-August) show an increase in volume and value of 6.9% and 7.56% respectively.

 

Coir mats, pith, yarn and fibre are showing a declining trend while rugs and carpets recorded an incredible increase of 300 % in volume terms during the period. Traders also fear that export to China may suffer in the coming days with consumption slowing down there post Olympics.