During the first four months of 2020, US agricultural exports to Chile increased by 4.4% over the same period of 2019, totaling $ 335.3 million, according to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This increase was driven by the 38.4% increase in US bulk product exports and a 28.3% increase in exports of intermediate agricultural products.
In contrast, consumer-oriented agricultural product exports decreased by 5.8%, totaling $ 220.1 million, i.e. 66% of all US agricultural-product exports to Chile. The factors behind this decrease are related to the pandemic and the measures in force since mid-March, as well as the depreciation of the Chilean peso (CLP) against the United States dollar (USD) since October 2019.
The report also states that Chilean consumers continue to buy imported food products from specialty stores, supermarkets, and online. Hotels, restaurants, bars, cinemas, and shopping malls continue to be closed nationwide. Restaurants have been forced to permanently or temporarily close, and some are offering a limited menu through online delivery service platforms. However, the main problem is the impact of high added-value food products from the US.
Source: simfruit.cl
