Photo Credit: Kokonas Indastri Koporesen
More than K1 million has returned to East New Britain following the province's sixth shipment of edible white copra at the end of last month.
Kevin Kasap, the NGI Supply Co-ordinator for Coconut Resource Limited (CRL), has confirmed this.
He said the province has sent its sixth shipment to Dubai, consisting of 10 containers weighing 108 metric tonnes and contained 4500 bags of edible white copra –– the province's first of its type.
“With the shipment, the estimation on the revenue, new money coming in is more than K1 million because for each container, we export we get more than K40,000 so we multiply that by the number of containers we are selling,” said Kasap.
He said that CRL is ready and has signed a deal for another 20 containers to be shipped in 60 days, claiming that all districts are ramping up their pace and that the firm is getting more from the districts.
The K400,000 Gazelle district price assistance scheme, which was announced last month, has been in effect since the beginning of this month, with district producers receiving K4 per kilogram, comparable to the Kokopo district.
According to Kasap, the flow of white copra is increasing in the four districts, where they buy 2.5 metric tonnes each month. The Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK) extension team is continuing with training programs in the districts and throughout New Guinea.
According to him, the revenue is returned to the producers because CRL is simply facilitating the shipping and whatever money is collected is returned to the farmers via the price paid out by KIK as a corporate social obligation to the growers.
Farmers have been encouraged to follow the correct method for producing edible white copra, he added, since CRL conducts quality inspections before picking up the goods from the farmers.
“By the end of the year, we should be producing almost 1000 metric tonnes, that is if all the districts come in including the NGI provinces of Bougainville, New Ireland and West New Britain,” he said.
The coordinating office is in Kokopo, and training is still taking on in the NGI provinces, with all containers being sent to Kokopo once they start buying.
According to Kasap, it will be massive, and they are looking forward to growing resources and buy property to establish industries in the future.
He claims the province is currently producing 240 metric tonnes and will increase to 400 metric tonnes by the end of the year.
Reference:
Lima, Grace. Post-Courier (4 August 2021). “White Copra Brings In Over K1 Million”.
