Affected by the global economic crisis, export volumes increased and imports decreased in 2012. The Brazilian fruit sector has high expectations for doing business during the World Cup in 2014 and in the 2016 Olympic Games.
The current global economic situation affects the fresh fruit sectors, including Brazilian exports and imports, so that when it comes to values it's not as advantageous to import. Something that has driven Brazil to start investing more in its domestic fruit market, which remained hot and was favoured for most of the year, in general due to the good harvest, which allowed there to be a slight increase in the export volume.
In 2012, exports of fresh fruits generated U.S. $619 million, compared to the U.S. $633 million of the previous year. 693,000 tons of fruit were exported, an increase from the 681,000 tons shipped in 2011. "The best value of our exports of fresh fruit, equivalent to 2.34% compared to 2011, is partly explained by the pressure exerted on prices as a result of the impact that the economic recession has had in the economies of major markets that consume the goods. In addition to fruit bargain baskets in 2012, grouped with lower added value, lower by 4% to the previous year," noted Ibraf market manager Claves Ribeiro Neto.
Last year highlights were for melons, lemons and mangoes. Fruits that had an increase in export volumes when compared with the year 2011, 7.2% for melons, 9.5% for lemons and 0,5% for mangoes.
With 181,700 tons exported, the melon is Brazil's most exported fruit. The mango, in turn, brought more foreign currency for the country, with U.S. $137,000 million. These results are reflected among the states with higher foreign sales: Ceará, one of the leading producers of melons, had the highest export tonnage (146,500 tons), while Bahia, a big mango producer, had the biggest incomes in international trade (U.S. $130,300 million).
The Netherlands, with over a third of the total volume and value (respectively 42% and 39%), the UK (20% of volume and 18% value) and Spain (10% and 12%) were the main destinations for Brazilian fresh fruits. The United States, Germany, Argentina, Portugal and France complete the list of the ten largest importers of Brazilian fruit last year.
Meanwhile, fresh fruit imports dropped 7% in volume and had a slight value increase of 0.5% compared with the year 2011. The main fruit imported both in volume and value is the pear, with 217,000 tons and 224,000 million dollars, followed by apples, plums, grapes, kiwis and peaches; Argentina, followed by Chile, Spain, Portugal and Italy as main suppliers.
More information: Ibraf
