Cuphea Production and Management - Industrial Crops: Breeding for BioEnergy and Bioproducts - page 292

Table 13.2 Average price for imported oils in the United States (coconut, palm kernel, and palm)
from 2005 to 2010

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 % change 2005-2010

$mt 1

Oil

Coconut 666 598 840 1,330 855 984 74

Palm kernel 734 675 791 1,289 817 1,029 70

Palm 458 491 712 1,036 730 872 95

Average 619 588 781 1,218 801 962

Based on data from Ref. [ 44 ]

Table 13.3 US import value of coconut, palm, and palm kernel oil between 2005 and 2010

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

10 6 Oil $

Coconut 288 295 385 663 414 567

Palm kernel 170 185 221 327 255 595

Palm 190 309 560 1,032 714 872

Total 648 789 1,166 2,022 1,383 2,034

Based on data from Ref. [ 44 ]

increased from 2005 to 2010 to an average value of 962 $ mt 1 (Table 13.2 ) with an
imported total value of $2 billion dollars [ 44 ] (Table 13.3 ).
An estimated 14 million hectares of high-lauric cuphea production (based on an
average oil yield of 150 kg ha 1 ) would be required to substitute for current palm,
palm kernel, and coconut oil imports. Based on current demand for MCFA, we
speculate that cuphea production in the upper Midwest of the United States could
feasibly approach that of oilseed sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.), which is
annually about 810,000 ha. Contracting companies were paying farmers
$1.19 kg 1 of seed with a gross income of $1,192 ha 1 necessary to cover the
production costs with a yield of 444 kg ha 1 in 2006 and 2007 [ 6 ]. The price paid
per kg of seed by contractors may decrease as seed yield and oil content increase
with the development of new cuphea cultivars and improvements in agronomic
management. Currently, the high value paid to the growers for the seed makes the
oil much more costly to produce domestically than what it costs to import coconut
or palm oil. That is why high-end dollar niche markets, such as cosmetics, will
likely be the near-term outlets for cuphea oil until greater yield improvements are
made. Current cuphea lines are 10 or 20 times higher in capric acid than coconut
(6 %) and palm kernel oils (3 %) [ 45 ], and they may have a higher market value
because of capric acid's value for cosmetics and other specialty chemicals. This is
one of the challenges of bringing a new crop to the market.