Peru’s agricultural suppliers are being urged to expand their presence in Asia in light of looming recession in the US and Europe, the Peruvian Agriculture Exporters’ Association (AGAP) has told a local newspaper.
Although the economic downturn has yet to impact on Peruvian profitability, AGAP’s chairman Guillermo van Oordt told reporters that exporters must diversify their export markets to help boost returns in the long-term.
“More volumes to the same markets means lower prices,” Mr Van Oordt explained. “Already Peru has reached volume capacity in certain markets for some products, so we must open up new destinations to diversify our volumes and prices.”
The fifth round of negotiations for a Peru-China Free Trade Agreement concluded at the end of last week, with many expecting the deal to be finalised by November.
Peru currently exports just 4 per cent of its agricultural export crop to Asia, compared with Europe and North America which receive 44 per cent and 34 per cent of volumes respectively, followed by South America (11 per cent) and Central America (2 per cent).
