Up to July 2013, compared to the same period of 2012, China, with 46.7%, was the country that experienced the highest growth in the share of imports of fresh fruit and nuts from Chile; followed by the Netherlands with 20% and Italy with 11.3 %. Moreover, the UK shows a sharp 9.2% drop; Brazil suffered a 6.8% decline and Colombia had a 4.8% fall, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture.
United States is still the main destination for Chilean fruit. Exports to this country amounted to 718,497,259 kilos up to July this year, almost a third of total shipments in the period. Table grape exports grew by 12% to 375,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, blueberries saw an increase of 29%; 52,000 kilos were exported. Plums, a fruit that had a 28% increase between January and July 2013, with 31,600 exported tonnes, follows. Exports of apples and kiwis experienced increases of 13% and 6%, reaching 122,000 and 22,800 exported tons, respectively.
China, meanwhile, became the second largest market for shipments of fresh fruits and nuts, as it increased its export market share from 5% to 7.1%. In this country, the table grape represents about 57% of the volume shipped up to July 2013, showing a 60% growth and reaching the 88,200 tons.
Source: Estrategia