BANYUWANGI – Hujan yang mengguyur Banyuwangi dalam beberapa hari terakhir membuat harga sabut kelapa turun drastis. Coconut coir collectors around Glagah Sub-District also have to catch up on time to be able to produce coconut coir before it rains.
“Biasanya kalau musim cerah harganya bisa sampai Rp 200 thousand for one truck. Now it's raining all the time, lots of wet coconut coir. Not sold, the factory also only wants to buy Rp 75 thousand per truck,” ujar Supriyadi, one of the collectors from Kampunganyar Village.
As a result, the price of coconut fiber is falling, the man who is familiarly called Pri now prefers to sell coconuts in logs. Or sell the contents of the coconut fruit only.
According to him, the price of coconuts is much better nowadays. Because coconut does not depend on the weather. It is different from coconut coir. For one homeless coconut, Pri said the price could reach Rp 2.500 when sold out of town. Meanwhile, peeled coconut can be even more expensive, from Rp 2.900 up to Rp 3.000 per item.
“Kalau sepet (coconut coir) we just wait from the factory to here. So we don't ship it ourselves. Because the price is bad. If we deliver the coconuts ourselves. Because the results are not bad for everyday capital. Meanwhile, there are two cities that are the destination, Jombang and Gresik,” he added.
However, the bad price of coconut coir is that it turns out that the cork fitters can still enjoy it (coconut skin peeler). Because the average collector wants to sell the contents of the coconut fruit, they needed more plugs and quicker than usual.
“Sehari ada sampai 4.000 processed coconuts. Usually five people work on it, i am with friends. The fare is still the same Rp 100 per item,” kata Ismail, one of the stuffers.
