Overseas demand for coir pith and coir fibre boosted the country’s coir and coir product exports in FY15, witnessing a 16 per cent growth in quantity and 10.5 per cent in terms of value.

Exports clocked a revenue figure of ₹1,630 crore during the period compared to ₹1,476 crore in the previous fiscal. The country exported 6,26,666 tonnes against 5,37,040 tonnes in the preceding year.

China emerged as the major importer of coir fibre for manufacturing mattress boards and its focus to import more coir pith/grow bags to cater to horti/agricultural requirements have also contributed more to the export kitty, Surendra Nath Tripati, Chairman, Coir Board, said.

Coir fibre with export earnings of ₹419.23 crore constituted 26 per cent of the total product exports. Likewise, coir pith with export earnings of ₹432.95 crore comprised 27 per cent. All other value-added items put together constituted 47 per cent of the total exports, he said.

Of the total 115 countries, the Chairman said that China topped the importing countries with 28.6 per cent in value and 39 per cent in quantity. USA emerged as the second largest importer with a share of 21.3 per cent in value and 12.4 per cent in quantity.

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