The report issued by Odepa with information from the National Customs Service includes figures, still subject to revision by value change reports, on the export volumes by markets:
The UK and Colombia are the only major markets for Chilean fruit that show an increase in imports during the first eight months of 2014, compared to the same period of 2013.
Meanwhile, the main markets for Chilean fruit exports, the United States, China and the Netherlands, showed significant declines. Russia (-46.1%) and Italy (-36.6%) are the markets registering the greatest drop in fruit imports during the period at hand. It should be noted that the reduction of Chilean fruit exports to various markets is due primarily to a decrease in supply, as international demand has been very active, and this has reflected in rising prices.
The U.S. market remains the main destination for Chilean fruit, absorbing 31.6% of the country's fruit exports, despite the 16% drop of its fruit imports from Chile, which reduced its participation among the destination markets from 32.4% to 31.6%. Avocados, cherries and oranges were the only fruits that saw an increase in their import volumes.
The sharp decline in table grape imports (the most popular Chilean fruit in the United States market, with 60% share in the total volume, which recorded a 20% drop and fell from 375,000 tonnes to 298,000 tonnes) was the key factor in the decline of exports to the United States. This drop, in addition to that registered by apples, the second most exported fruit by Chile, and the sharp decline in other early season fruits, like blueberries, nectarines, plums and peaches, account for the sharp decline in shipments to the United States.
China ranks second as a destination for Chilean fruit exports in terms of export value, and third when it comes to volume of shipments, showing a decrease of 11.2% in its import volume, but an increase in its share of Chilean fruit exports from 6.7% to 6.9%. The sharp drop in table grape exports (10.2%), a fruit which represents 56% of Chilean fruit exports to China, and the decline in plum and apple shipments, could not be offset by increases in the import of Chilean cherries and blueberries.
Other early season fruits, such as plums, nectarines and peaches, registered significant drops. Moreover, table grapes and apples, the two most important fruits in terms of volume imported, recorded sharp declines of 13.5% and 16.1%, respectively, which contributed significantly to the lower overall volumes of fruit imports from Chile. In the UK market, the volume of apple imports increased by 56%, reaching 41,000 tonnes, which resulted in apples becoming the most imported Chilean fruit. Furthermore, table grape imports dropped from 41,500 to 37,500 tonnes (-9.4%), causing them to fall to second place.
The Brazilian market, which had been registering a steady growth since 2011, saw an end to the rising trend in the import of fresh fruits from Chile and registered a drop in shipments during the first eight months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013 (-4.0%), despite it increasing its share as a destination market from 3.2% to 3.5%.
Its table grape imports, the most important fruit during the period at hand, increased by 6.9%. Similarly, imports of Chilean apples grew by 76%. The growth registered by both these fruits, however, was not sufficient to offset the decline in Brazil's stonefruit imports from Chile.
The Colombian market recorded a slight 0.7% increase in its imports of Chilean fruit and increased its share as a destination market from 4.0% to 4.7%. The 8% increase in the import of apples, the main fruit imported from Chile by Colombia, was enough to offset the drop in the import of pears, table grapes and stonefruit.
The top ten destinations for Chilean fruit exports show a slight decrease in their share of Chile's shipments during the first eight months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, from 72.5% to 71.8%.
Source: FOODNEWS LATAM
