The volume of Chilean fruit exported in the first three months of 2014 fell by 7.4 per cent in compared with the year earlier period, according to the latest figures from the country’s Office for Research and Agricultural Policy (Odepa).
Unfavourable climatic factors – notably the freeze that hit some of the country’s main producing regions last September – were the main reasons behind the fall, which impacted strongly on the production and export of stonefruit.
Blueberry shipments were down by 11 per cent, partly as a result of the detection of Lobesia botrana, which curtailed exports to the US market, Odepa said. The volume of pear exports is also down by 11 per cent, with an estimated 30 per cent of the crop having been shipped by the end of March. This was largely down to the shortfall in production of the Coscia pears, shipments of which were down by 46 per cent in the first quarter.
Not all products were down, however. Avocado exports registered an increase of 203 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2013, while cherries and apples rose by 42 per cent and 13 per cent respectively – although the latter is still in the very early stages of the season.
Odepa noted that although the stevedore strike at the port of San Antonio had caused delays to shipments, most exports were eventually channelled through alternative ports.
The figures also showed a sharp fall in the volume of Chilean fruit imported into North America during the first quarter of 2014. Although the US remained the biggest destination for Chilean fruit, absorbing 45 per cent of the export total, sendings to this market fell by 14.1 per cent. Table grapes were down 14.5 per cent, ending the quarter at 328,000 tonnes compared with 382,000 tonnes in the same period last year. Shipments of blueberries, nectarines, plums and peaches to the US also fell, while avocado and cherry volumes by 23 per cent and 802 per cent respectively.
In Europe meanwhile, results were mixed. Shipments to the Netherlands rose by 16.4 per cent but sendings to the UK fell by 1.1 per cent for the first quarter.
Finally, export volumes to China rose by 7 per cent, making the country the second biggest market for Chilean fruit in value terms and third in volume terms. Cherries, which make up 50 per cent of all Chilean fruit shipments to China, increased by 49 per cent during the quarter, while grape sendings rose by 27 per cent.
