Sri Lanka coconut prices plunge 30% - export ban may be lifted
Sri Lanka's fresh coconuts dropped with an average 30% to 30,793 rupees for 1,000 nuts (€168,-) at…Sri Lanka's fresh coconuts dropped with an average 30% to 30,793 rupees for 1,000 nuts (€168,-) at the latest auction in August 2018 from a month earlier, amid a global fall in commodity prices and weak demand.
Industry sources said an export ban on fresh coconuts may be lifted to help boost farm gate prices. In July, the average price for coconuts were about 45,000 rupees (€245,-).
At the August 16th auction, 1.3 million nuts were sold at the Colombo auction, with 1.7 million nuts being offered for auction. In the previous auction, sellers withdrew most of the nuts after demand fell.
Sri Lanka may lift a ban on the export of fresh coconut exports, imposed when coconut prices soared above 50,000 rupees earlier in the year, officials said. Sri Lanka only exports small volumes of fresh coconuts, but the move may help prices, industry officials said.
According to economynext.com, in 2016, coconut auction prices fell as low as 22,000 rupees per 1,000 nuts (€120,-) as oil prices also fell amid an underlying weakness of the US dollar.