FOR the second year in a row, canned pineapples have replaced canned tuna as the top commodity export earner in south central Mindanao, according to the PhilExport office here.
Export receipts from canned pineapples during the first eight months of this year (January to August) reached US$136,586,501.99 from a volume of 14,616,687.13 metric tons (MT).
Last year, the region exported 27,378,769.60 MT of canned pineapple valued at US$244,414,248.87.
Including fresh and silage, total export receipts from pineapple products in 2014 were valued at US$309,403,720.65.
Canned and fresh pineapple exports from January to August this year have already totalled US$164,472,887.25.
PhilExport Central Mindanao director Ismael Salih Jr however said export revenues for the top 10 export products in the region are down this year.
Comparative figures for 2015 and 2014 released by PhilExport showed a drop of US$22,337,862.23 in the value of the region’s top 10 export products.
In 2014, gross export receipts was at US$579,275,512.56 but it was only US$556,937,650.33 this year. Both figures are for the first eight months of the stated years, respectively.
Export volume of canned pineapple likewise dropped from a monthly average of 2,281,564.13 MT in 2014 to just 1,827,085.89MT this year.
As a result, average monthly value is down from US$20,367,854.07 in 2015 to only US$17,073,312.75 this year.
Central Mindanao is home to Dole Philippines Inc., the country’s largest diversified agricultural company.
It has over 15,000 hectares of land planted with pineapple in the several towns in South Cotabato and has expanded to Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat.
Although canned pineapple has dislodged canned tuna as the region’s top commodity export, export receipts from tuna products are still central Mindanao’s top dollar revenue earner.
From January to August this year, total tuna export revenues were already valued at US$183,369,383.26 for a modest growth of 5.3 percent.
Crude coconut oil is the third largest export revenue earner of central Mindanao with a value of US$77,162,418.62.
Rounding up the top 10 export commodities of Region 12 this year are fresh cavendish bananas copra meal, frozen whole tuna, coconut water, pouched tuna and frozen tuna.
Canned pineapple was the region’s top commodity export for over four decades since Dole Philippines began operations in the 1960s.
Canned tuna however dislodged canned pineapple as the region’s top revenue earner in 2002 until it regained its leadership in 2013.
