China’s peach, nectarine, and cherry production are all forecast to increase in MY 2019/20 under normal growing conditions. Demand for high quality stone fruit is on the rise. Cherry imports are expected to increase this year to 19,000 million tons. The United States will remain the largest cherry supplier during the summer, but the share is likely to fall given retaliatory tariffs.
China’s peach and nectarine production is forecast at 15 million tons in marketing year (MY) 2019/20 (January-December), an increase of 11 percent from the previous year. Although Shandong province, the leading peach producer in China encountered dry weather through April and May, other peach-producing provinces have reported normal growing conditions supporting strong fruit development. MY2019/20’s production gain also represents a rebound from last year when freezing temperatures struck the peach crop across northern China. The MY 2019/20 peach and nectarine quality is expected to improve from last year’s crop, according to Shandong peach growers.
Cherry imports
Cherries are the largest fruit import in China, by value. In MY 2018/2019 (April-March), China imported 180,165 million tons of cherries at a value of $1.3 billion. Cherry imports are expected to increase to 190,000 million tons in MY 2019/20. Most imported cherries are from the Southern Hemisphere and arrive between November and February, with volumes peaking in January, around Chinese New Year. Benefiting from a Free Trade Agreement and abundant exportable supplies, Chile remains the single largest cherry supplier to China and the import volume is expected to continue increasing in the next few years as cherry production continues to increase there.
