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The fibre of Pollachi's coir industry imperiled |
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COIMBATORE: The coir fibre industry in Pollachi has seen a 50 per cent decline in domestic supply and a 30 per cent reduction in exports leaving thousands of people jobless. As per data available with various coir manufacturing associations in the district, the number of units has reduced by 40 per cent over the last one year, due to various reasons including a spike in manufacturing costs and the availability of cheaper fibre from Indonesia and Philippines.
Pollachi, located 40km from Coimbatore, has 6.30cr coconut trees, cultivated across 30,000 acres, which yield 10 million coconuts daily. Each coir manufacturing factory requires about 50,000 coconut husks daily. "When China entered the market a few years ago, Pollachi saw a boom in the coir industry. The number of factories doubled, increasing the cost of raw material. Last year, when the district witnessed a drought, production dipped drastically, further increasing the raw material cost. While manufacturing costs went up, the cost to export from China remained the same, negatively impacting the Pollachi factories. China began procuring its fibre at cheaper rates from Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, hampering production and exports over the last six months," said S Mahesh Kumar, president of Indian Coir Pith and Allied Products Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association.
In China, the import cost of coir fibre per tonne decreased from $325 to $275 over the last three months. At the same time, the cost of coir pith, a value added product, has gone up from Rs6 to Rs11 per kg in Korea. "Since pith gives more returns than fibre, several coir manufacturing units that lacked the expertise and infrastructure to produce value additions have closed down," said C M Kamraj, president, All India Federation of Coir Manufacturers' Association. When coir manufacturing costs went up, some units moved to coir pith production, but due to the unusual rain this summer, pith production has also been hit. "Pith requires huge drying yards and as per international standards should have less salinity and moisture," said C M Kamaraj who was one of the early exporters of pith to European markets in 1990s.
With the industry slowing down, thousands who were rendered jobless have either migrated to Tirupur garment factories or work as labourers in various developing resorts in Pollachi. "Many of the labourers, especially those who came from north India, work in garment factories in Orissa and other northern states," said one factory owner.
Experts say that though the industry has slowed down, there is much scope for growth. "The market for coir products is huge and if the government supports the small scale units, it can still continue to be a world leader in coir production," said S Mahesh Kumar. Currently, domestic supply comes mostly from Kerala, Gujarat, Mumbai and Salem.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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