Chile is increasing its share of the Canadian apple import market, according to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as Canada's own production falls back.
The data, compiled by the USDA's International Agriculture Service, showed that Chilean apple exports to Canada rose to 21,471 tonnes during 2011/12, up 5.3 per cent.
Chile is now the second-largest supplier of fresh apples in Canada with a market share of 11.4 per cent, still some way behind the US (79.4 per cent) but ahead of New Zealand (4.1 per cent) and China (2.1 per cent).
Canada has looked to import greater apple volumes from overseas in recent years, bringing in 190,060 tonnes in 2011/12, up 72 per cent on 2010/11, according to the USDA.
One of the primary reasons for this is its falling domestic apple production, which dropped to 26,350 tonnes from 29,029 tonnes in 2010/11, as poor weather and reduced profit and competitiveness hit the sector.
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