Export drop of 90% for Australian cherries

"Rainfall was ample this year. Compared to last year, the early-ripe Australian cherries have to deal with a drop in production volume of 70% to 80%. One exception is Tasmania. The production drop directly causes a severe reduction of the export to Hong Kong of 80% to 90%," says David of the Australian export business.

Export market in disarray
"The large decrease of production this season has perturbed the export market to a great extent. It also has pushed up the cherry price on the local market, because Australia can't import cherries from other countries. So the cherries produced in Australia stay there for consumption. The high export price and the vigour domestic demand create an export market that is in a state of deep confusion. Specifically, the export price is lower than the price on the local market. This compels almost all Australian exporters to stagnate their exporting business. Based on estimations, the situation will improve after Christmas. Not only will the Australian local market lose some of its intensity, but also a larger amount of cherries will go on sale. This will bring bring down the price, which in turn means a new opportunity for export to the Hong Kong market."

Harvesting period extended by 3 to 4 weeks
"Another peculiarity of this production season is that the harvesting period will be 3 to 4 weeks longer. This is mainly because the winter was cold in Australia this year with much rainfall. Since this weather has persisted for quite some time, many early-ripe varieties are not ready for harvest yet."

Guaranteeing sustainable supply
"Our company exports many fruit varieties from Australia to China. This includes cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, grapes, etc. At the current stage, we don't have our own farming fields or packaging factory. This is mainly because we want to guarantee the sustainability of our supply. Our main production regions of Australian cherries are in Victoria and New South Wales. This way we have a good spread of production regions, so if the production process is interfered in one region by the rain, we can still import the products of the other region. Our main exporting market is Hong Kong, but we also export small amounts to Southeast Asia, Singapore and Canada."

"Related data of the Australian Gardening Association show that the Australian export of cherries to China amounts to half of the supply of the Chinese market. I have very good hopes for the future of fruit export from Australia to the Chinese market."

Contact person: David (Australian Export Business)
Wechat: davidyang74