MOST of PNG’s commodity export volumes have dropped dramatically since 1999. Only oil palm has shown a consistent rise in export volumes over the same period, while cocoa has seen some modest increases in the past four years.
These startling figures were revealed at the National Industries Council forum by Brown Bai.
Mr Bai told the forum he acknowledged the Government’s policy placing priority on agriculture development, but these plans were not working as they were not being implemented.
This has contributed largely to the drop in agriculture export volumes over the last eight years. This was most noticeable in coffee, tea and copra.
Mr Bai quoted the Bank of PNG’s figures for the March quarter this year, which showed that copra exports plummeted from 63,500 tonnes in 1999 to just12,700 tonnes last year – a drop of 80%.
Even copra oil (processed copra) exports dropped again after a modest rise to 54,400 tonnes in 2005, down to 41,500 tonnes last year.
These figures go against the expectation that less copra exports should be higher.
Coffee exports also dived from 79,200 tonnes in 1999 to 52,300 tonnes last year.
Between 2000 and 2004, export volumes for coffee hovered between 63,000 and 65,000 tonnes, it bounced back to 72,100 tonnes in 2005 before plunging to 52,300 tonnes last year.
Tea exports have also been struggling to gain ground on its previous export volumes, having exported 8,500 tonnes in 2000, it dropped to just 5,200 tonnes in 2002, regained ground in 2004 to 8,100 tonnes and dropped again to 6,600 tonnes last year.
Cocoa exports rose from 29,000 tonnes in 1999 to 44,200 in 2000 then slightly dropped again last year to 44,000.
Oil palm has consistently risen, recording six-digit figures. The industry exported 253,600 tonnes in 1999 and a rise to 362,300 tonnes last year.