Japan imported 11.6 per cent more fruit in June 2012 compared to the prior year period, according to a market report by Tokyo-based consultants Yamano & Associates.
This was despite the arrival of domestic summer fruit on the market, and increased demand for local melons and mangoes.
Banana imports from the Philippines, Ecuador and Taiwan were steady throughout the month of June, and 1.7 per cent higher than a year earlier. Pineapple volumes rose 15 per cent year-on-year to 18,859 tonnes, with virtually all product coming from the Philippines, and Californian lemon arrivals were up 9 per cent and dominated by large-sized fruits.
Californian orange volumes, meanwhile, rose 20.4 per cent compared to June 2011, the report said, with a significant percentage of large-sized fruit.Grapefruit volumes were slightly down (1.8 per cent). South African supplies were in short supply, and sizes small, while Californian and Turkish grapefruits were sold from existing stocks.
Californian Bing cherry sales were sluggish in June due to their high prices, according to the report. Meanwhile, there was heightened interest in Korean cherries.
Mango imports were up 2.8 per cent, with volume arriving from the Philippines, Thailand (by air), Mexico (by air) and Taiwan in June. Taiwanese volumes were slightly down due to heavy rain affecting key growing regions.
In 2011, bananas accounted for 60.6 per cent of Japan’s total fruit imports in volume terms, and 41.4 per cent in value, according to Jack Moriya, president of Tokyo Seika Trading – one of Japan’s largest produce importers.
Japan imported a total of 1.76m tonnes of fresh fruit throughout the course of last year, he said, in line with the five-year average. At the same time around 3.6m tonnes of domestic were marketed, making the ratio between imported and domestic produce 1:2 in the Japanese market place.
