PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 7:31 PM by Tevita

Marshall Islands copra soars with high prices, good shipping
PACNEWS 1: Fri 06 Feb 2009

06 FEBRUARY 2009 MAJURO (Pacnews) ---- Marshall Islands copra makers nearly set a record with production in 2008, making it the second best year in this western Pacific nation’s history since records began being kept in 1951, reports Marianas Variety.

According to statistics provided Wednesday by Tobolar Copra Processing Authority, 7,641.25 tons of copra was produced from January to December 2008. This was topped only in 1995, when 7,728 tons was processed by Tobolar.

Copra is dried coconut meat that is used to produce coconut oil World market prices soared in 2008, with the price paid to producers in the Marshall Islands nearly doubling to 22 cents per pound on the remote outer islands and 23.5 cents in the capital, Majuro, where the processing plant is located. Coupled with the dramatically increased price has been the privatization of government shipping since 2007, which regularized and stabilized ship schedules to the outer islands after years of haphazard service.

Showing that the continuing high price paid for copra in Majuro is having an impact, Majuro copra makers from October to December produced 67.9 tons of copra — nearly half of the total they produced in the previous 12 months.

But it wasn’t only Majuro hustling up copra. Likiep Atoll, which from October 2007 to September 2008 produced only 103 tons, produced 96.7 tons from October to December 2008. Another usually modest copra producer — Utrik — also outdid itself. For the previous 12 months, Utrik had only accounted for about 82 tons. But from October to December it produced 63 tons, or nearly 80 percent of the annual total in just three months. ……PNS (ENDS)



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DIVA-GIS	Thursday, February 05, 2009 Posted 7:31 PM by Tevita Marshall Islands copra soars with high prices, good shipping PACNEWS 1: Fri 06 Feb 2009 06 FEBRUARY 2009 MAJURO (Pacnews) ---- Marshall Islands copra makers nearly set a record with production in 2008, making it the second best year in this western Pacific nation’s history since records began being kept in 1951, reports Marianas Variety. According to statistics provided Wednesday by Tobolar Copra Processing Authority, 7,641.25 tons of copra was produced from January to December 2008. This was topped only in 1995, when 7,728 tons was processed by Tobolar. Copra is dried coconut meat that is used to produce coconut oil World market prices soared in 2008, with the price paid to producers in the Marshall Islands nearly doubling to 22 cents per pound on the remote outer islands and 23.5 cents in the capital, Majuro, where the processing plant is located. Coupled with the dramatically increased price has been the privatization of government shipping since 2007, which regularized and stabilized ship schedules to the outer islands after years of haphazard service. Showing that the continuing high price paid for copra in Majuro is having an impact, Majuro copra makers from October to December produced 67.9 tons of copra — nearly half of the total they produced in the previous 12 months. But it wasn’t only Majuro hustling up copra. Likiep Atoll, which from October 2007 to September 2008 produced only 103 tons, produced 96.7 tons from October to December 2008. Another usually modest copra producer — Utrik — also outdid itself. For the previous 12 months, Utrik had only accounted for about 82 tons. But from October to December it produced 63 tons, or nearly 80 percent of the annual total in just three months. ……PNS (ENDS) * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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