A new report released by Rabobank, the Dutch agri-bank, predicts that China will usurp the Netherlands as the world’s third biggest fresh produce exporter within three years.
China, which produces half the world's fruit and vegetables, is beginning to make its force felt on the world stage, as exporters exploit the natural advantage of low labour costs to re-inforce areas of existing strength and create a dominant position in crops such as persimmons and asparagus.
China’s fresh produce exports totalled US$7.2 billion last year, or 7.2 per cent of global trade in fruit and vegetables, according to data from Rabobank and the United Nations.
This leaves it trailing behind only the Netherlands, the US and the world’s largest exporter Spain. The Netherlands figure is skewed by the volume of fresh produce that is shipped from outside of Europe through the country and onto other European destinations.
The EU is expected to become a far bigger target for the Chinese as the drive begins to increase the value of the export basket, as well as volume.
“The proportion of added-value processed and prepared products compared to fresh has been increasing,” said Patrick Vizzone, head of the bank's food and agricultural advisory and research unit for Asia.
“China has historically been a price maker but costs, and therefore export prices, are rising,” he told AP-Foodtechnology.com.
“China is still very competitive but prices have increased, underlining the potential for this trend,” he said.
“The government is really pulling out all the stops to try to help the rural sector. It cut the agricultural tax last year and for the first time in about eight years, the growth of rural incomes is now on a par with urban areas.”
Alongside a desire to increase exports, there will also be an expansion in internal demand for imports, he said. Fruit consumption is set to boom as the consumer purse strings are loosened a little.
