Chile: Predictions of bigger dried plum production in 2014
Even if dried plum demand is stable, the opening of new markets is fundamental for the industry. In fact, the main destinations for this Chilean fruit is Mexico (15%), Germany (9%), Russia (13%), Poland (8%) and Italy (7%), among others. Due to this, it's fundamental that they establish and deepen the commercial relations with Asian countries, as there are many opportunities given by those markets. To highlight that, during 2011, dried plum managed to get to the Chinese market.
Also during the last year one of the biggest milestones for the sector was Chile's consolidation as number one exporter of dried plums, presently exporting to more than 70 countries.
According to a report from Odepa - "Commercial balance of Forestry, Agricultural and Live-stock. Monthly advance January-December 2011" - during the period from January to December of 2011, dried plum exports had a 13.7% drop, going from 67,172 tons in the same period of 2010 to 57,966 tons in 2011.
Regarding Chilean dried plums, Apecs, told SimFRUIT, that in November 2011, Mexico was the main destination for the dried plums, with 19% of the month's total. Russia kept the second place, representing a drop of 41% regarding the cumulative in the same period of the previous year.
Other destinations won some notoriety by the end of November, as Venezuela increased its participation in that season from 2% in October to 4% in November, going up 4 positions in the importance list regarding destination countries, showing a 114% rise regarding the previous year. A similar situation is presented by Ukraine, which overtook Argentina. Moreover, Ukraine shows a 359% rise in its accumulated amount regarding the same period of the year before.
Source:Chilean Dried Plums-APECS/SimFRUIT