The agreement benefits 120 nucleated producers in Frudepa and La Linea, who will be able to market it in overseas market for 10 million pesos. The drop in production in the United States, France and Chile was a key factor in achieving this agreement.
This year, the plum market has been good for producers, especially for those who decided (or could) dry the fruit.
The market fall in Chile and the United States strongly helped domestic producers, who are mainly focused in Mendoza, San Rafael being this market's spearhead.
Given this situation, a value close to 5.50 pesos per kilo for the plum's trust fund had been set, but the Fruderpa cooperatives and La Linea have agreed to sell their production at 8 pesos per kilo.
In this regard, the more than 120 plum producers gathered in cooperatives harvested 1,250,000 kilos of fruit, which means that they stand to make 10 million pesos.
Although it was a complex negotiation, the lack of stock in the international market helped the local trust fund to prevail in the negotiation and get this very good price in the market. Undoubtedly, the fruit from San Rafael will be exported around the world at a very good price.
It's worth recalling that earlier this year, the Government of Mendoza opened a trust fund to support the industry to immediately assist the harvesting and hauling of producers and established a reference price of 5.50 pesos per kilogram of dried plum.
One should keep in mind that the drop suffered by international producers (Chile, USA and France) greatly benefited Mendoza, so this marks a new challenge to be able to maintain exports and compete in the future.
Another item to consider is the status of fresh plum, which in the best cases was paid at 1.20 per kilo. According Mendoza's stock market, in July the market closed at 1 peso per kilo of fresh fruit.
While it is a big step for the market, there are still things to be done such as increasing domestic consumption, since 95.5% of the production is intended for export and only 5% for the domestic market, so the strategic development of the sector isn't sustainable. Another point to consider are the increases in cost and labour.
Mendoza is the largest exporter of plums from Argentina, with an incidence of approximately 97% of domestic sales. This year production reached 136 million kilos and 47% of them correspond to our department, which reached the 11,886 cultivated hectares in the last harvest out of the 24,950 cultivated hectares that are across the province.
Source: Diariosanrafael.com.ar
