The exportation of coconut oil from the Philippines since 1913 is shown in the following table:

Coconut oil exported, 1913–1922

Year ended December 31—To all countriesTo the United States
QuantityValueAverage value per 1,000 kilosPercentage of total exportQuantityValuePercentage of total coconut oil
KilosPesosPesos KilosPesos
1913 5,010,429 2,292,678 457.58 2.40 4,805,384 2,190,876 96.56
1914 11,943,329 5,238,366 438.60 5.38 11,896,975 5,214,326 99.54
1915 13,464,169 5,641,003 418.96 5.24 13,367,932 5,609,263 99.44
1916 16,091,169 7,851,469 487.94 5.61 15,307,429 7,388,748 94.11
1917 45,198,415 22,818,294 504.85 11.93 45,045,690 22,755,319 99.72
1918 115,280,847 63,328,317 549.33 23.42 113,524,729 62,198,528 98.22
1919 139,942,612 73,719,504 526.78 32.59 85,376,904 45,797,329 62.12
1920 77,571,405 46,537,773 599.93 15.40 71,944,801 43,366,086 93.18
1921 90,292,242 32,103,036 355.55 18.22 80,504,458 27,907,379 86.98
1922 107,208,191 31,468,971 293.63 16.46 106,645,477 31,288,505 99.43

Copra meal Another by-product of the coconut oil is known as copra meal. It is the meal remaining after most of the oil has been expressed. This is used as cattle feed in Germany and Denmark.

Soap Recently, certain corporations in the Philippines have gone so far as to use their oil to manufacture many of the varied products which were formerly made only in the United States and Europe. Soap was the first product to be manufactured locally. There are two companies now, however, which manufacture lard substitutes under their own trade names. There is an attempt also to manufacture coconut butter for sale in the islands.

Desiccated Coconut The manufacture of desiccated coconut is an infant industry in the Philippine Islands. The demand for this in Europe and particularly in the United States is very large and is mostly filled by Ceylon or by factories in the United States which import the whole nuts from the West Indies. Last year, however, the desiccated coconut from the Philippines gained a strong foot-hold in the United States and it is expected that Ceylon will be ousted from this field in the near future due to the free trade relations between the United States and the Philippines. On desiccated coconut imported into the United States from foreign countries, a duty of 3½ per cent is levied. At present there are six factories of desiccated coconut in the Islands.

Coir Another opportunity for development lies in the use of coir, the tough fiber of the husk surrounding the nut. In other countries this is worked up into door mats, rope, twine, etc., but in the Philippines the husks are usually burned as fuel except in a few instances where they are utilized for domestic purposes. It is also possible that some day other minor parts of the palm may be used. At present the midribs of the palm leaflets are used in making brooms and baskets, but the demand for exports is still small.

The exportation of copra from 1913 to 1922 is as follows:

Year ended December 31—To all countriesTo the United States
QuantityValueAverage value per 1,000 kilosPercentage of total exportQuantityValuePercentage of total copra
KilosPesosPesos KilosPesos
1913 82,219,363 19,091,448 232.20 19.98 10,027,813 2,398,166 12.56
1914 87,344,695 15,960,540 182.73 16.39 18,181,371 3,212,266 20.13
1915 139,092,902 22,223,109 159.77 20.65 21,217,754 3,520,090 15.84
1916 72,277,164 14,231,941 196.90 10.17 35,470,438 7,079,128 49.74
1917 92,180,326 16,654,301 180.67 8.71 68,253,929 12,235,902 73.47
1918 55,061,736 10,377,029 188.46 3.84 55,061,641 10,377,011 99.99
1919 25,094,027 8,839,376 352.25 3.91 2,313,967 818,246 9.26
1920 25,803,044 7,433,741 288.10 2.46 1,433,311 382,409 5.14
1921 150,335,314 26,146,918 173.92 14.84 52,928,570 8,665,554 33.14
1922 173,051,980 28,206,146 162.99 14.76 89,358,118 14,495,014 51.00