Cooking oil prices have increased by 33.3 percent to P80 per kilo from P60 in the first quarter due to higher prices of coconut oil in the world market following the impact of El Niño phenomenon on coconut production and improved consumer preference for coconut cooking oil.

Anthony M. Felipe, chief finance officer of the CIIF Oil Mills Group, told reporters that prices of crude coconut oil in the international market have gone up to $1,080 per metric ton from $750 in the first quarter this year.

The high prices in the world market has resulted in local oil millers preferring to produce oil for exports instead of the local market, but CIIF, which accounts for 30 percent share of the local market, has committed to produce for the domestic cooking oil market.

Felipe said that CIIF produces 400,000 metric tons of crude coconut oil of which 80 percent is exported.

Last year, CIIF’s four operating oil mills earned $150 million in exports. Its total sales is estimated between P10 to P11 billion annually.

For the first quarter this year, CIIF has reported P86 million in income in the first half of the 2010 surpassing the P72 million entire income in 2009.

Atty. Doroteo B. Aguila, CIIF vice-president, said that aside from the impact of the El Niño phenomenon, demand for coconut oil has also increased because of the demand for bio diesel.

“There is also now a strong consumer preference for coconut cooking oil because of the studies showing that the luric acid enhances immunity system because although it is a saturated fat it is of medium strain and easier to excrete making it healthier than other cooking oils,” Aguila said.

The high prices of coconut oil, however, is benefiting Filipino coconut farmers as prices of copra have gone up to P29 per kilo from P20 in the last quarter. The record price of coconut was at P45 per kilo in 2007 due to the global crude oil crisis.

The country’s total coconut industry production has been steady at 2.3 million metric tons a year. (BCM)