China: Spanish plums enter the market

This week, the main products on the Shanghai import market are oranges from the Southern Hemisphere and cherries from North America. Furthermore, the import quantity of avocadoes has also seen a rise recently. Because the production seasons coincide, the avocado market now has products from Mexico, Peru and Chile. Moreover, the market has also welcomed small quantities of other products, such as Spanish plums, Canadian blueberries and Costa Rican pineapples, so the Chinese consumer now has even more choice.

On Sunday, the Shanghai market welcomed the first batch of Spanish plums. They are Black Diamond plums from the company Frutas Torrebaja, packaged per 9 kg.

This first batch has arrived in China by sea. Because of this, the plums were picked relatively early. That is why the taste is quite mild and not rich enough, compared to plums from the middle or end of the season. The current price is around 155 yuan, and the sales speed is rather low.

On the avocado market, produce from Chile, Peru and Mexico are now in season, so the number of avocados on the Chinese market is now higher than in the first half of the year. The sufficient supply brings about another problem. Because the Chinese weather is very hot now, and the Chinese fruit supply is rather large, the market demand for avocados has dropped. That causes the stock to grow, and the price to drop. Last weekend, the market price for avocados (for the most common package of 4-6 kg) dropped below 200 yuan. Because the quality of Peruvian avocadoes is better than that of Mexican avocadoes, their sales speed is higher than that of the other two countries.

Peruvian avocados. Because their sales speed is slowing down, more avocados are becoming ripe, and the price is dropping.

On the orange market, compared to oranges from South Africa, the sales of Australian oranges have not met the expectations. Because the Australian climate has been wet and cold, the oranges from the new season are not as sweet as in previous years. This means that people do not want to buy them, dropping the price. Moreover, even though the price is dropping, the sales speed is still rather low. Currently, the price for Australian oranges on the Shanghai market is between 240 and 270 yuan. The sales speed is very much influenced by the taste. Oranges from the Australian brand Navelate are now becoming ripe, something importers and buyers are looking forward to. If the taste improves, the market price will also become better.

This season's Australian oranges are looking very good, but the taste is not sweet enough.

Because the sales speed is rather low, the oranges that are going bad are thrown away.

Author: Yang Shuang