Despite the start of a commercial war between Mexico and the United States, Mexican avocado producers are confident that it won't affect avocados, since the US has a huge demand for this product and imposing a tariff on it would mainly hurt Americans.
Miguel Carlos Peinado Gonzalez, the general director of Guacamolito, GoldenStone Comercializadora and Rancho AgrĂcola El Zapotal, the main export consortium to the American Union, said they didn't believe there was a tariff risk for this fruit.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (Sagarpa), Mexico consolidated itself as the biggest producer of this fruit worldwide after having achieved a historical production of 1,997,629 tons in 2017, which represented more than 2.71 billion dollars for the country between January and November of that same year.
The government agency stated that the main export destinations for this product were the United States, Japan, Canada, Spain, France, the Netherlands, El Salvador, China, Honduras, and Guatemala, which together accounted for nearly 98 percent of the total exports made.
Peinado Gonzalez said the US market was significant and that the dollar to peso exchange rate favored the Mexican avocado's price and competitiveness. "They might impose a tariff on avocado exports, but there's a very big demand for this product. There's a very big demand for it and not only in the United States but throughout the world."
The goal in Europe and Asia
The representative of the company assures that their objective was in Europe and Asia. Sagarpa expects export to these markets will increase, mainly to Japan, China, and the entire European Community.
Peinado said that they were paying close attention to Europe, as demand was increasing there. "We want to try to place as much avocado as possible in the European markets."
When asked about the security problems in Michoacán, their main source of production, Peinado Gonzalez said their productions hadn't been affected by security issues.
"No. We have had 5 years of enormous prosperity. Sales and commercial exchange have grown in the last 5 years," he said.
Source: elsoldetijuana.com.mx