Philippine coconut oil exports rose 15.7 percent in May from a year earlier, the first increase after 10 months of decline, data from an industry group showed on Monday.

Shipments from the Southeast Asian producer, the world's biggest exporter of the commodity, rose to 53,387 tons last month from 46,132 tons in May 2008, the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines Inc (UCAP) said in a report.

That brought exports for the first five months of the year to 190,419 tons, down 53.4 percent from the same period in 2008.

UCAP earlier reported that coconut oil shipments in May rose an annual 25.7 percent to 58,000 tons, citing preliminary data.

The Philippines expects exports of coconut oil, which is used in food, cosmetics and biodiesel, to dip to 835,000 tons this year from 847,626 tons in 2008, on soft global demand as well as its increasing use as feedstock by local biodiesel producers.

The Philippines exports 80 percent of its coconut oil output but accounts for less than 5 percent of the global fats and oils market due to a drop in local production in recent years and the rising popularity of other vegetable oils, such as palm.