The General Manager of Samoa's newly formed Pacific Oil company, Samau Etuale Sefo, says the new coconut oil plant to produce fuel needs more dried copra from local coconut farmers once the operation starts in April.
The Samoan government has this week given approval to the company to produce coconut oil as a substitute for diesel.
But Samau says the venture faces the constraint because there is not enough supply as producers of coconut cream and exporters of husked nuts have also bought coconuts from growers.
He says the fuel plant needs 5,000 tonnes of dried copra a year or 400 tonnes in a week to produce around 3.5 million litres of diesel oil annually.
However, he says other Pacific countries could be approached to supply if there is a shortage.
The Pacific Oil company which is fully owned by local investors is reportedly keen to offer a competitive price for dried copra.
