The outbreak of the corona virus has had a significant impact on the Chinese export market for more than a month now, but last week the processors in some production areas have gradually begun to resume operations. One pear exporter from Hebei recently talked about the current conditions in the Chinese pear industry.
Manager Guo is a spokesperson for Botou Dongfang Fruit Co., Ltd. According to him, "we resumed operations on February 9th. Initially we were operating at 30% of our usual level. We are currently operating at around 60%-70%. Some of our employees have not been able to return to work because the roads are still closed in some areas."
"There was a rumor that Indonesia banned the import of fresh Chinese pears, but that turned out to be untrue. According to our understanding, there are currently no countries that have banned Chinese fresh pears as a result of the outbreak of the corona virus. Our clients also have nothing to worry about when it comes to the product quality of our pears. Quite the opposite, actually, the current market has a great demand for fresh pears because they are beneficial for the respiratory system. The market demand for fresh pears far exceeds the supply volume," explained manager Guo.
"As for the price of fresh pears, the relationship between supply and demand always has an impact on the price of fresh pears. The domestic price and the export price both show a rising trend."
"Chinese pears can be stored. The harvest season begins in July and continues until September. Most pear varieties can survive in cold storage for long periods of time. The Huangguan pear in particular can be sold all year long. We are not worried that we will be unable to sell our pears, because the pears can survive storage for a long period of time and there are more than enough customers willing to buy our pears," said manager Guo. "Our main overseas markets are in North America, Israel, Mexico, and parts of Europe. Our pear processing facilities experienced delays in the last few weeks, which had an effect on our export volume. The export volume of our pears is around 20% smaller than last year. We are currently working hard to process the orders we received in the last few weeks. We will be able to process the orders we receive within three months."
Botou Dongfang Fruit organized a festive ceremony in Cangzhou, Hebei, on February 14th, to celebrate the first shipment of fresh Chinese pears to Brazil. This was the first time that Botou Dongfang Fruit had exported Chinese pears to Brazil. "Our pears are currently at sea and should arrive in Brazil next week. We already have several potential new clients who contacted us to discuss business. We hope to expand Chinese pear export in the Brazilian market. The market in Brazil offers huge potential for Chinese pears. We hope the customers in Brazil will be able to enjoy Chinese pears sooner rather than later."
For more information:
Guo Zhongtao
Hebei Cangzhou Botou Dongfang Fruit Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 18831700996
E-mail: df-fruit@btdfgp.com