Cabinet approval had been granted to import frozen coconut kernel to Sri Lanka.
The proposal was forwarded to the Cabinet by Plantation Industries Minister Naveen Dissanayake.
Accordingly a ship from the Philippines carrying the first stock of imported frozen coconut kernel, reached Sri Lanka yesterday.
The stock would immediately be distributed among the local coconut product industries, the Ministry of Plantation Industries said.
Local coconut kernel related industry owners have received the license to import 78,000 MT of coconut kernel, the Plantation Industries Ministry also said. Accordingly, stocks of coconut kernel would be imported in the coming weeks as well.
The annual coconut harvest which is about 3,000 MN of which 60 to 70 percent is used for direct consumption. The Plantation Industries Ministry observes that the rest was insufficient for industrial purposes.
These imported stocks would be re-exported to the World Market after turning them into finished goods.
The Ministry also expects it to be a solution in gradually decreasing the high price of coconuts in the local market as well.