Copra production this past year picked up slightly from 2014, breaking the 5,000 ton mark, but fell below the 10-year average.
Tobolar received 5,056.46 tons of copra for fiscal year 2015 — October 1, 2014 to September 30 this year. A poor showing in the last quarter of FY2015 kept this past fiscal year tonnage low, largely reflecting lack of vessels, which were tied up in dry-dock, broken, or transporting passengers.
Tobolar Copra Processing Authority statistics show that from April to June, ships delivered 1,962.05 tons of copra to the Majuro processing plant. The volume fell to less than 50 percent of this total from July to September, with only 797.84 tons collected.
The 10-year average from FY2006 to FY2015 is 5,675.73 tons. During this 10-year period, two years (2008 and 2013) generated copra over 7,000 tons.
Arno was far and away the highest producer, taking advantage of its proximity to Majuro to generate 1,178.87 — nearly one quarter of all copra picked up in FY2015. Ailinglaplap was a distant second, with 632.78 tons.
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