Chilean authorities have recorded an “exponential growth” in agricultural products exported during the last few years from the ports in the Bío Bío (VIII) region located in the south of the country.
The Chilean Agriculture and Farming Service (SAG) claims fresh and frozen products from the Metropolitan region to the region of Aysén (except Atacama) are increasingly being shipped from ports in Bío Bío, according to a report by local publication Diario El Sur de Concepción.
SAG’s regional director Eduardo Führer Jiménez said that fresh fruit exports in particular have risen, with shipments growing from 1.5m cartons in 2000 to 12m cartons in 2009.
Among those fruits most exported include apples, Asian pears, blueberries and nectarines, destined for markets as diverse as Asia, Europe, the US, the Middle East and Russia.
Some 66 per cent (or 2.5m cartons) of the blueberries exported from Bío Bío are headed for the US, the report said, and this season SAG estimates that that volume could exceed 4m cartons.
To strengthen the region’s development as a logistics platform, the public and private sectors are currently working to establish both SAG and USDA offices in Bío Bío for the inspection, fumigation and storage of fresh fruit.
