Coir exports have risen by 19% in the last fiscal year to 3.82 lakh tonnes as per the Coir board of India. In monetary terms also the value has gone up by 19% to Rs 956.83 crore in the same period.
Coir, an important cottage industry for the coconut producing states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, is used to make rope, mattress, rugs and carpets among other things. Indian coir and its products are exported to over 97 countries, with the US being the largest market. Countries like the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Australia, France, Spain, Canada, Japan, Greece, Sweden, South Africa, UAE, Portugal, and Denmark are the other major markets of coir and coir products.
India and Sri Lanka are two major coir producers in the world. They both account for around 90% of global production of the item which stands at about 3.50 lakh tonnes. India had exported 3.21 lakh tonnes of coir and its products worth Rs 807.07 crore in the 2010-11 fiscal and has now set a target of Rs 2,000 crore for the 12th Five-Year plan period (2012-2017).