World production of table grapes is now in excess of 21 million tons and has shown a strong underlying trend over the last decade. Over 50 countries are producers, with China accounting for 12% of global production, followed by Italy (9.1%), the USA (8.7%), France (7.6%), Spain (7.4%), Turkey (5.5%) and Chile (4%) (FAO, 2012).
In recent years, these countries have been affected by different dynamics: in particular, among the leading countries, China and Turkey have shown an increasing trend, while Iran, Italy and others have shown stability or, in some cases, a decrease in production; moreover, it is important to highlight that Peru, while not a dominant player historically, is now experiencing an upward trend with a strong export orientation.
Currently, Chile has the leading market share of exports with more than 20%, followed by the USA and Italy (12%), the Netherlands (7.5%), South Africa (6.7%), Turkey (5.7%) and China (5.4%). In recent decades, market shares have largely evolved and have been gained and lost by exporters with great swiftness. There has been an increase in the share of exports from both a group of countries which, whilst being traditionally among the main producers, were exclusively orientated towards their domestic markets, such as China, Turkey and India, and a group of countries which are not yet included among the top 10 producers, such as Mexico and Peru.
In other words, the main global exporters are now not only the traditional producers, but also those who have developed the production of table grapes more recently. As a result, new players have emerged and modified the economic geography of the grape trade, leading to an increase in competitiveness on the international market.
Scientists explain that the results show that market shares have changed considerably over the last decades and that the dynamics substantially differed along the decades. In particular, European countries, the main players during the 1960s, have considerably reduced their market shares, with a sharp decline starting in the late 1980s. On the other hand, the increasing process of trade liberalization has fostered the competitiveness of emerging countries, which have made improvements in the quality of production, in their supply chain techniques and in shipping and transportation logistics. As a result, the market shares of European producers have been eroded by new competitors; the USA is the only producer which has managed to maintain its market share over time.
In the northern hemisphere, new competitors are China, Egypt, India, Mexico and Turkey, while in the southern hemisphere, along with the two main competitors Chile and South Africa, emerging players are Argentina, Brazil and Peru.
The full study is available online at:
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ip/ooa/2015/00000044/00000002/art00005
Source: Antonio Seccia, Fabio G. Santeramo, Gianluca Nardone, 'Trade competitiveness in table grapes. A global view', June 2015, Outlook on Agriculture, Vol. 44(2), pages 127-134. doi: 10.5367/oa.2015.0205
Contacts:
Fabio G. Santeramo,
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Foggia
Via Napoli 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy
Email: fabio.santeramo@unifg.it