São Paulo – Oils produced from oranges by Cocamar are already used in perfumes in the renowned French industry, where it is used as a fixer. The product is also sold to other European countries, as well as China, the United States and Canada. Now, the cooperative from Paraná wants to export the noble product to the countries in the Middle East.
They are noble because 327 kilograms of fruit is necessary for the extraction of just one kilogram of oil. The price ends up corresponding to the extraction cost. Today, with the heated market, one tonne of the oil is sold for US$ 3,000. “It oscillates much, due to offer and demand," explained Peter Elshof, commercial manager of the citrus department at Cocamar. In times of low demand, the tonne may reach US$ 900.
The product is in such demand on the international market that production for 2010 is already fully sold and, in 2011, Cocamar should expand orange production from the current three million boxes to up to five million boxes of fruit. Each box contains 40.8 kilograms of orange. “Next year, the crop will be better and we may sell to more clients," said Elshof.
The Arab market may be among the new clients, as Cocamar may take its concentrated juice and oil division to the next Gulfood, the largest food sector fair in the Middle East, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Apart from perfumes, the orange oil is also used in the food industry, as a flavour for scents, pies and cakes, for example.
Elshof explains that the cooperative already participates in the fair with its retail juice division. "We are operating strongly in the juice sector there [in the Middle East] and we may soon start with oil," said the Cocamar manager. “We are interested in making contact and, in coming years, selling there," he pointed out.
The truth is that 90% of the oil produced is sold abroad, being France the main market. The volume has already been higher, 95%, but the domestic market has started demanding the product, reducing exports a little, but not significantly.
Currently, Cocamar produces 470 tonnes of scented oil a year, and the target is to reach 625,000 tonnes by 2011. Exports are directly from Brazil, and also through local agents, especially in Europe.
In orange production, the company has 130 employees dedicated to production, ranging from the crop, transportation and extraction, etc. In production of oil, in turn, there are just five collaborators who work in three shifts.
Cocamar is headquartered in Maringá, in the state of Paraná, but has industrial units in another 28 cities, including Paranavaí, where orange oil is produced. The cooperative also produces soy, coffee, cotton, wheat, canola, sunflower, eucalyptus, maize oil, mashed fruit, mashed tomato, mustard and alcohol.
Contact
Cocamar
Tel.: (+55 44) 3221-3000
E-mail: peter.elshof@cocamar.com.br
Site: www.cocamar.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
