During the period under review export of items like curled coir, rubberised coir, powerloom matting and handloom matting have declined as coir is witnessing stiff competition from other mechanised products like PVC tufted mats.

India is the largest exporter of coir products such as mats, matting and rugs in the world. Coir exports during the last financial year recorded a 17% increase in value to touch Rs 1,901.62 crore, largely due to higher exports of coir pith.

Coir pith is the top performer in terms of volume with a share of 54% with 4,08,897 tonne. Other products like, coir geo-textiles, handloom mattings, tufted mat, powerloom mat and coir rugs and carpets also showed a rising trend in exports.

The volume of exports in FY 14 increased by 20% to 752,020 tonne against 626,666 tonne, valued at Rs 1,630.33 crore.

The US, China, the Netherlands and South Korea are the main buyers of coir products from India. The US tops the list of countries in value terms of exports with nearly 26 % of the total realization, while China, with 36 % of volume share, tops in that category.