Chilean fresh fruit exports rose by 7.8 per cent during the January to July period of 2011, according to a new report from Chile’s Office of Agriculture Studies and Policy (Odepa).
Cherries (up 58.3 per cent), oranges (38.4 per cent), plums (36 per cent), blueberries (31.8 per cent), pears (17.5 per cent), nectarines (13.3 per cent), table grapes (8.6 per cent), apples (3.95 per cent) and peaches (3.7 per cent) were the categories with the biggest growth rates.
Conversely, avocados, lemons, mandarins and kiwifruit all registered a fall in sendings, the report said, contracting by 43.9 per cent, 4.2 per cent, 1.2 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
Favourable weather conditions, during the pre-harvesting and harvesting periods of the 2010/11 season, was the cause for the increase in exports for the majority of those fruits with growth rates.
The only exception was avocados, whose 2010/11 volume was reduced by the fruit’s off-season, following record production and exports in the previous season.
