China: 2018 imported Chilean cherry sales troublesome

"The new export season for Chilean cherries has just started. The export to China usually continues until March. Just like two years ago, China is mainly importing cherries from Chile. What is different, however, is that the prices of this year's Chilean cherries are worse than in previous years. The current market price is lower than last year's, and many importers are losing money," according to Mr. Wang Dechao, Manager at Qingdao Xiang De Feng Trade Co., Ltd.

"In the past few years, and especially in the last two, Chilean cherries have been very popular in China, and the prices have been gradually rising. Because of the large profits, many Chinese importers did not spare any expenses, and went to Chile to purchase packaging facilities and production sites. This has led to a huge growth of local farmers. Compared to 2016, the 2017 Chilean cherry production grew around 40%. This year, China imported over 7,000 boxes of Chilean cherries, which is an increase of approximately 75% from last year's 4,000 boxes."

"Recently, a ship with 1,000 boxes of cherries arrived in Guangzhou. Their prices on the Chinese market were very low. This continuous drop in price might recover at the end of January, but one also has to take into account the market capacity. The fruit quality is better than last year. Even though the Chilean cherries that were brought to China earlier through sea transported were rather soft, and had a decent taste, the recent shipments are of much better quality. They reach our standards for both freshness and hardness."

"Through the port of Qingdao, we import cherries from New Zealand, Australia and Chile. We mainly sell our products to distributors in first tier cities in China, such as the Guangzhou Jiangnan market and the Shanghai Huizhan Market. We differ from the many other importers in that we have our own distribution markets and supermarkets, so that we can guarantee smooth sales."