The National Federation of Fruit Producers (Fedefruta) stated that Chilean fruit exports in 2015 would increase by 14.6%, and would recover its volumes after the frost in September 2013.
The information was provided as part of the opening ceremony of the PMA Fruittrade Latin America in Santiago de Chile, an event attended by major supermarkets in the world that wish to network and do business with Chilean fruit producers.
"This figure certainly means we'll recover our volumes after the frost a year ago, which caused exports to drop by 12.3% in 2014, when compared to 2013," said the President of FEDEFRUTA, Juan Carolus Brown Bauza, during the appointment.
Brown Bauza emphasized that the domestic industry would export 2.72 million tons of fresh fruit, i.e. 4,770 million dollars (FOB), the highest returns in the history of Chilean fruit exports.
He also added that the export of plums and nectarines would increase by 97.9% and 100% respectively, and that Kiwi exports would increase by 90.5% over the previous period.
"We can't forget the cherries, which we expect will also reach a record in exports in 2015, increasing by 35.7%," he added.
FEDEFRUTA expects grape exports will increase by 12.9% in 2015 and recover its first place in the ranking of exports, which it lost to apples in the 2013-2014 season because of the damage caused by the frost on the vines the previous year.
Estimates are the sector will export 840,000 tons of table grapes and 815,000 tons of apples.
"That would represent 61% of the total Chilean fruit exports," said Juan Carolus Brown.
The PMA Fruittrade Latin America is the international version of the international business conference held by FEDEFRUTA for over a decade and that, thanks to the partnership with the Produce Marketing Association, the Yentzen Group, and the support from ProChile, aims at making Chile the country that leads the Latin American exporting bloc in fresh fruits and vegetables.
Source: EFE