Fresh produce exports from the Netherlands fell by 3 per cent during the first half of this year, according to new figures published by Productschap Tuinbouw.
A major player in the northern European import-export trade as well as a key producer of a range of fruit and vegetables, the country's fresh produce shipments to other markets nevertheless fell below the one million-tonne mark in January-June 2012, finishing up at 978,000 tonnes compared with 1.01m tonnes in the same period of 2011.
The figures will cause concern in particular among Dutch producers, who have sought to expand their export business over the past couple of years by extending promotional and networking activity to emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Russia.
Nearer to home, trade sources indicate a continued slump in demand in the country's traditional export arenas is making that expansion all the more important.
Crucially, the Netherlands' main export market Germany took 3 per cent less in the six months to 30 June, importing a total of 376,000 tonnes.
