Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi
The Seaweeds Capital of the Philippines
LOCATION MAP OF SITANGKAI, TAWI-TAWI
Of the total foreshore area of 66,450 hectares, more than 60,000 hectares are suitable for seaweeds farming.
To date only 10,000 hectares are planted.
POTENTIAL AREA
PRODUCTION
Sitangkai is producing 3,000 MT of dried seaweeds per month. This is
about 50% of the total production of the Philippines.
About 80% of the population of Sitangkai are directly and indirectly benefiting from seaweeds farming
More or less 20,000 families are seaweeds farmers
FARMERS BENEFITTING
Poor & Disorganized Seaweed Farmers
Less Intervention from Concerned Gov’ t. & Development Agencies
Poor Production Technology &
Insufficient Post Harvest Facilities
Proliferation of Traditional Industry
Players Driven by Old Paradigm
Affects the Quality of Seaweeds
Low Price
Insufficient Capital
Poor Access to Financial
Institutions
Cyanide Fishing and Natural Occurrence
Analysis of the Divides of the Seaweeds Industry in Tawi-Tawi
Low Income
Low Production
Crop Diseases
THE OLD PARADIGM IN THE SEAWEED INDUSTRY
From the time the first family farm went into operation in 1972, the Eucheuma farming industry saw a rapid expansion and growth. There has been a fifty -fold increase in exports of farmed Eucheuma (Hollenbeck III, 1983). Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi became the largest Eucheuma farming area in the Philippines. In 1974, Eucheuma production was estimated to be in the order of 12,000-14,000 tons which was a tremendous jump from 500 tons in 1972. Two other companies filled up their inventories and stopped buying. They purchased only 7,500 tons. The price of seaweed dropped to PO.30/kg.
This accounts for the ad hoc nature of economic studies made on Eucheuma farming. Ad hoc information gathered so far indicated that the Eucheuma farming industry is “able to absorb a wide range of output price and cost shocks and that the industry is still resilient (Padilla and Lampe, 1989).” The output price fluctuations and costs shocks referred to here may be due to the oligopsonistic structure of the Eucheuma seaweed farming industry.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC067E/AC067E02.htm
Price/kg
36 3218
-1 02 03 04 0
Dinas,Zamboanga
del Sur
Liloy,Zamboanga
del Norte
Sitangkai,Tawi-Tawi
Price/kg
PROBLEMS ON PRICINGPROBLEMS ON PRICING
Low buying price Low buying price of seaweeds in of seaweeds in SitangkaiSitangkai
Price/kg
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
Sept. 2004 Dec. 2004 Apr. 2005
Price/kg
3330
28
25
18
15
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
4th Qtr 04 1st Qtr 05 2nd Qtr 05 3rd Qtr 05 4th Qtr 05 1st Qtr 06
Wild fluctuation of Sitangkai Prices of Dried Seaweeds
From 4th Qtr 2004 up to the 1st Qtr 2006, the
price went down by
54.5%
PROBLEMS ON PRICING
8.168.47 8.49
8.78 8.95
7.267.7 7.72 7.85 8.03
0
2
4
6
8
10
4th Qtr 04 1st Qtr 05 2nd Qtr 05 3rd Qtr 05 4th Qtr 05
ARPNG
World Prices of Carrageenan in USD
AR – Alcohol Precipitated Refined
PNG – Philippine Natural Grade
Average Growth Rate
AR 10%
PNG 11%
Source: International Market Research
www.hydrocolloid.com
SOCIO - ECONOMIC
Farming communities in Sitangkai mirror the contradictions of the industry.
The monthly average income of a family is 2500 pesos as per SSIMP.
Basic social services are very inadequate.
Literacy rate and life expectancy are very low compared to the national average.
EFFECTS OF THE PROBLEMS
EFFECTS OF THE PROBLEMS
WORLD MARKET SHARE
The entire industry is also in serious threat of losing its world market share.
According to seaweed industry specialists, from the 80s up to the present, Indonesia has increased its share from about 20% to 50% while the
Philippines has declined from 80% to 50% of its world market share for Eucheuma seaweeds.
Considering that in 2000, the seaweed industry is the 3 rd biggest foreign exchange earner in the fisheries sector contributing 130 Million US Dollars, this should be a serious concern of the National Government if the trend is
a reality and irreversible.
Established on March 23, 2006
Registered with SEC on May 19, 2006
MAIN OFFICE & BUYING STATIONBrgy. Panglima Alari, SitangkaiTawi-Tawi, PhilippinesZAMBOANGA CITY FIELD OFFICE AND BALING STATIONCamins Compound, Brgy. Sta. CatalinaZamboanga City, Philippines
MISSION
1. Sitangkai Seaweeds Export Company shall sell and export the best quality seaweeds from Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi
2. It shall ensure that the seaweed farmers of Sitangkai shall benefit in terms of better price and increased production
3. It shall promote Sitangkai seaweeds brand as the best quality seaweeds available in the world market
VISION
Sitangkai Seaweeds Export Company, a world class exporter of quality seaweeds
from Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi and a progressive social business enterprise in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by 2010. We are promoting Sitangkai as the most productive and biggest producer of
Eucheuma Cottonii Seaweeds in the Philippines.
The ARMM is considered the least developed Region in the country today.
It has been proven that to develop industries and social enterprises is an effective way to
improve economic condition. SITEXPORTS will dare to make this a reality by working to make it a viable social business enterprise in ARMM. SITEXPORTS will strive to reconcile its own objectives with Sitangkai’s developmental needs thru its own concept of self -reliance.
This shall be done with the hope that other industries and businesses in ARMM will adopt the social business enterprise model wherever
applicable.
Showing the way that a SOCIAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) can be
Practical and Viable
The establishment of SITEXPORTS is geared towards forging meaningful PARTNERSHIP among key stakeholders to resolve critical SECURITY issues for long term sustainability. This is our NEW CONCEPT OF SELF RELIANCE.
FARMERSSecurity in terms of sustainable and fair priceSecurity in terms of the availability of seedlingSecurity in terms of peace and order and governance that is responsive
SITEXPORTSSecurity in terms of marketSecurity in terms of financeSecurity in terms of raw materials supply
CARGILLSecurity in terms of confidence in supply and continued availabilitySecurity in terms of quality and properties of the raw materialsSecurity in terms of client confidence (quality and regulatory issues)
NGOs AND SUPPORT AGENCIESBeing able to efficiently perform its institutional mandate in Sitangkai with effective implementation of their programs and projects
WHERE DO WE STAND
The successful result of this partnership will be a NEW
DEAL for the seaweed farmers in Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi and a
MODEL OF COLLABORATION in the seaweed industry.
We also recognize the rights of other stakeholders and their role and contribution in the
development of the industry.
WHERE DO WE STAND
Sitangkai seaweeds is considered to be one if not the best in the world. Laboratory tests from foreign companies confirm that Sitangkai seaweeds produce high yield
compared to other sources.
SITEXPORTS, on the other hand is the only export company established right in
Sitangkai, the major source of high quality seaweeds in the Philippines.
Our Company Slogan“QUALITY SEAWEEDS
RIGHT AT THE SOURCE”
Our Company Slogan“QUALITY SEAWEEDS
RIGHT AT THE SOURCE”
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
CARRAGEENAN YIELD
World MarketStandardSITEXPORTSResult
CARGILL Laboratory Test Result dated November 28, 2006 for Carrageenan Yield
Our Business Philosophy“OUR WORD IS OUR BOND”
This is our commitment to the NEW PARADIGM of buying seaweeds from the
farmers.
SITEXPORTS will bridge the gap between the farmers and the world market right in
the farm.
SITEXPORTS will use part of its derived profit for Social Programs to benefit the
seaweed farmers
By limiting our volume, SITEXPORTS will not be disrupting the business activity of
other stakeholders.
When buying from farmers in Sitangkai, SITEXPORTS gives premium price to good quality
seaweeds.
When selling to foreign buyers, SITEXPORTS complies strictly
with export standards in exchange of a better price
Our Business Strategy“VALUE FOR QUALITY”
SITEXPORTS Export Price per metric ton of Dried Raw
Seaweeds to France
April 2006 USD 760October 2006 USD 830April 2007 USD 900
Our Business Strategy“VALUE FOR QUALITY”
Farmers benefit through stable and fair price
Foreign buyers benefit in terms of quality and security of supply
SITEXPORTS benefits with a minimum reasonable profit
Local traders and other exporters and processors will benefit with increased production and good quality
Local Government of Sitangkai will benefit from increase of Municipal fees and taxes.
National Government will benefit in terms of increased foreign exchange earnings
NGOs will benefit in terms of strategic fit for their programs and projects. This will further build their image and enhance their capacities.
A WINNING CONCEPT FOR ALL MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE
Since April of 2006 up to June 2007, we have exported 7 times exclusively to CARGILL France for a total of 280 MT of dried seaweeds which is less than 1% of Sitangkai production for the same period.
Amount of export sales from April 2006 to June 2007 amount to USD 238,000 or PhP 11 M.
Generated employment for 20 regular and contractual workers
Our own warehouse and main buying station is located in Barangay Panglima Alari in Sitangkai with our own network of farmers and local traders.
We have a warehouse and baling station in Zamboanga City that has the capacity of baling 40 MT export quality seaweeds in 2 X 20’ containers per day.
Our total company asset is PhP 8 Million
WHERE ARE WE NOW
Philippine Development Assistance Program – Canadian International
Development Agency (PDAP-CIDA) provided the seed capital of PhP 2.5M thru
its PRIME Program
MASS-SPECC serves as the conduit financing institution of the PDAP-CIDA
assistance
CARGILL France committed to buy the production of SITEXPORTS
AGENCIES & INSTITUTONS SUPPORTING SITEXPORTS
Insufficient capital for buying of dried seaweeds to meet our increasing
export order
Lack of access to credit facilities specifically the Export Advance Line
and Bills Purchase Line due to inadequate collateral for banks, to avail of prompt payment of export
shipments
Logistical requirements specifically the availability of foreign containers in Zamboanga City, to avoid delays.
PRESENT CHALLENGES
SITEXPORTS started operation in Sitangkai with the policy of “value for quality” in buying seaweeds
3 good quality solar driers are already implemented and funded by PDAP in partnership with SITEXPORTS. Seedling banks are also to be implemented in the coming months
The Sitangkai Seaweeds Industry Master Plan is already completed and now on its way to implementation. If successful, this will revive and re-invigorate the seaweed industry of Sitangkai.
THE GOOD NEWS FOR THE SEAWEED FARMERS
THE “HAPPY COINCIDENCE” FROM MID 2006 UP TO THE PRESENT
26 27 28 2830
-5
5
15
25
35
2nd Qtr 06 3rd Qtr 06 4th Qtr 06 1st Qtr 07 2nd Qtr 07
SITEXPORTS started operation from April 2006 up to present.
Farm gate price was stable on an upward trend.
There is hope for the seaweeds farmers & for the industry
Considering that wild fluctuation of price, as
presented, has been the norm when seaweed farming in
Sitangkai started in 1970s up to 2005,
WILL THIS “HAPPY COINCIDENCE” LAST?
A bright new day filled with HOPE and PROMISE
Thank You and We Look Forward to Meaningful Partnership with You