Coconut oil mills in Tamil Nadu stare at crisis

COIMBATORE: Coconut oil manufacturers in Kangeyam in Tirupur, which have many oil mills, are staring at a crisis due to a severe shortage of copra.

Only less than 20 per cent of the 150 oil mills in the Kangeyam area may be functional now due to a lack of copra for crushing.

“Even they do not run in a full-fledged manner. Many that are churning out oil now have their brands, while those that function like cottage units are closed,” said NSN Dhanapal, president of the Kangeyam Coconut Oil Manufacturers Association.

During the hay days in the previous years, each of the mills produced an average of 15 to 20 tonnes of coconut oil every day. There are some mills that produce up to 30 tonnes of oil by running round the clock.

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, coconut oil is used mainly as hair oil, but in the neighbouring state of Kerala, it is used in huge quantities for cooking purposes. It was also in demand in the north Indian states.

“But they were shifting to other cheaper varieties of oils due to a spike in prices of coconut oil in recent days,” said PKB Shanmugam, who runs an oil mill on Chennimalai Road.

The downfall of coconut mills began over the last four years, with the crisis deepening further this season. Similar to copra yards, hundreds of workers employed in coconut mills are jobless.

Oil manufacturers urged the state government to take a policy decision to sell coconut oil in ration shops to revive their future.

“It will also ensure the manufacturers get a remunerative price and ensure purity of the product. Many adulterate coconut oil by mixing palmolein to the extent of up to 80 per cent to sell them as pure oil. As adulteration is rampant due to the cheap pricing of palmolein, its import should be banned,” said oil manufacturers.

IN A NUTSHELL

800 and more coconut drying yards in the doldrums in Tirupur

There’s a nil arrival of copra due to a shortage of coconut

15,000 workers have been left jobless

Rs 175 and above is the present selling price of copra

1,400 to 150 copra yards has been the decline registered in the last five years in the Kangeyam area

Coconut yield has also dropped drastically due to infestation

Oil mills have become defunct due to a lack of copra

20 tonnes of coconut oil were produced in each of the mills before, but that has dipped drastically