The supply from the Rio Negro Valley and Neuquen continues to have serious restrictions to enter the Chinese market, which currently is a key market for the development of any regional productive activity.
Few countries don’t have the privilege of selling their products to Chinese market, which demands more and more volumes of quality fruit thanks to its growing middle class.
Chile, the leading exporter of the southern hemisphere, placed about 200,000 tons of different fruits in the Asian giant in the first part of last year.
Argentina, which has good quality to enter with its pears and cherries, hasn’t been able to position itself in the Chinese market because of a lack of tariff and health agreements that would allow it to reach this market with competitive prices. The lack of political and commercial agreements with China are delaying the possibilities of selling products in a key channel for Northern Patagonia’s fruit production.
In 2006, China and Chile formally implemented a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that would gradually free 97% of the merchandise traded between both countries of tariffs in 10 years. Today, all of their products enter the market with no tariffs.
China's fruit imports have grown rapidly in recent years, in part thanks to the growth of the middle class and the emergence of a new generation of consumers that are willing to spend more on healthy food, a trend that has enormous economic implications for the fruit of China. Last year, however, there was a drop of around 6% for the products analyzed.
Zhu Danpeng, a recognized analyst within the food industry, said that, even though growth had been high in recent years, this sector still hadn’t realized it’s full potential, given the huge potential demand from China. He also said that the drop observed last year would be corrected this year and that there would be a return of a positive trend on imports.
Source: rionegro.com.ar