Coir, obtained from the husk of coconut, Cocos nucifera, is a perrenial palm found in tropical countries. As far back as the 19th century, records indicate that the Philippines, particularly Pangasinan has been producing coir. Coconut husks were soaked in streams for 8-12 months and the fiber extracted manually by pounding them with mallets against slabs of woods. After drying, the fibers were made into ropes or twines for fishing and farming purposes.

The development of the Philippine coir industry started prior to World War II when the National Coconut Corporation, now the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), experimented on mechanized coir extraction. Shortly after the war, Martiniano Floro, a manufacturer, developed the first defibering machine and subsequently, established the first defibering plant in Alaminos, Laguna.

Other defibering plants followed in the late '50s up to the '70s. Today, with the establishment of other coir decorticating or processing plants, products of various applications have been developed for both the foreign and domestic markets.

The traditional application for coir is a padding material for furniture. Other uses are for the production of brushes, carpets and rags and twines.

Coir is also used for plant pads which are natural substitutes for sphagnum moss, plastic redwood and other containers for growing various kinds of outdoor plants.

In the industrial field, coir has also found application as geotextile material in the form of bonded mats, filtering materials for drainage, wallboards, in the construction of industry and briquettes. Coir is also used as insulation material, caulking material for boats, filtration pads and as carpet underlay.

The more important utilization of coir is for the production of car panels in the form of car seats, back pads, ceiling and other car parts. For this purpose, coir is transformed into rubberized sheets. Rubberized coir sheets are also suited for packaging scientific, photographic, electronic and other delicate equipment and products as it offers excellent protection and safety.

In recent years, coir dust, a residual non-fiber particle which is produced from the extraction of coir, has gained economic importance. While it used to be a major problem for decorticating plants because of the volume involved in disposal and because of environmental considerations, coir dust is now exported and used as substitute for peat moss, soil mulching, soil conditioning agent and other uses.

While coconut husks are abundant throughout the Philippines, coir production is concentrated in Southern Tagalog, Bicol and Northern Mindanao.

Most of the decorticating plants are located in Southern Tagalog although there are also plants in the Bicol region and in Mindanao. A decorticating plant needs about 20,000 pieces of coconut husks for an eight hour operation.

Presently, there are 27 licensed traders of various classifications all over the country.

For practical purposes, coir processors operate near the source of coir. Currently, there are 13 licensed grading and baling establishments (GBEs) who are also exporters of coirs.

Coconut husk is abundant throughout the Philippines but coir is produced mainly in Quezon, Laguna, Batangas in Southern Tagalog, Aurora province, Albay in the Bicol Region and Davao del Norte in Southern Mindanao.

This situation can be attributed to the importance given to two major products of coconut, namely copra and dessicated coconut, which generate more dollar earnings for the country than coir. Also, the varieties of coconut prevalent in the Philippines have bigger kernels which produce less fibers. The global market for coir is dominated by India and Sri Lanka.

From 1990 to 1999, production of coir has been on the uptrend, reaching a high of 2,043MT in 1995. Production, however, has been declining due to stopping of operations of some decorticating plants.