According to reports in the US trade media, Chilean trade representatives believe that the volume of fruit shipped to the US and Europe will balance out in the next few years.
Chilean Exporters' Association (Asoex) figures indicate that five years ago, both Europe and the US received 33 per cent of Chilean fruit exports. In the seasons since, exchange rate differentials and exporter preferences have created a disparity ñ last season the US took 42 per cent of Chilean fruit, whereas Europe handled just 28 per cent.
Exporters still claim they will not be playing the currency market and switching volume between the continents depending on exchange rates. But the rise in prominence of the euro in recent times, the strength of sterling and above all the weak dollar are likely to divert fruit to the old continent. Combine that with a Free Trade Agreement that has immediately made Chilean fruit significantly more competitive within the EU marketplace and the enlargement of the European Union, which opens up 10 potential “new” FTA markets, and the increasing attraction of Europe becomes clearer still.
The Chilean trade is reported as expecting a stabilisation in volumes, with the two continents returning to the situation of the late 1990s when both received around one third of all Chilean sendings.
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