China remains the largest export market for Chilean cherries

Chilean cherries not only compete with Australian and New Zealand cherries, but also have to compete with Chinese local fruit. A large number of cherries have hit the market (the volume has more than doubled in the past quarter) with nearly 162,000 metric tons on sale, pushing down prices. In the past two years, Chile has planted about 6,000 hectares of cherries each year. Based on the average yield per hectare and the time it takes for the orchard to enter production, Chilean analysts predict that production will double in four to five years.

In 2017-18, global exports increased by 94% to 187.14 billion tons, while non-Asian markets such as North America (+24%), Latin America (+72%) and Europe (+38%) had lower growth rates. In Asia, China has the largest share with 96%. South Korea imports almost doubled to 2.641 million tons. The US Department of Agriculture's Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report shows that with the expended planted area, Chilean cherry exports in the 2017 and 2018 season reached 185,000 tons.

According to estimates, Chilean cherry production in the 2018/19 season is expected to increase again to 290,000 tons, and exports will remain relatively stable. Benefiting from the good weather in the main producing areas, the production of Chilean nectarines and fresh peaches also increased in the previous season, from 145,000 tons in the previous season to 158,000 tons, driving the export volume to achieve an 11% increase (97,000 tons). China has become the second largest export market (15,000 tons), second only to the United States (38,000 tons). The report predicts that the production of fresh peach nectarines will fall to 150,000 tons in 2018 and 2019, and exports will fall back to around 90,000 tons.

Source: Wanguo Fengyunhui