China is increasing its imports of fruits, berries and nuts and may for the first time exceed the mark of USD 10 billion in 2019.
According to EastFruit analysts, imports of fruits, nuts and berries to China in the first four months of 2019 rose to USD 3.1 billion, exceeding last year’s figure of imports for the same period by 26%.
As in the previous year, the main imported commodity in terms of value were sweet cherries. China spent almost $ 0.9 billion on importing this fruits, which was 2% less than last year’s record. The peak of cherry imports to China traditionally falls on the Chinese New Year, and about 99% of the total imports of cherries come from Chile.
In second place were imported exotic fruits: dragonfruit or pitaya, longan or dragon eye, lychee and rambutan. In four months, China spent $ 330.2 million on this exotic – 6% more than a year earlier.
The third place in the ranking of imported fruits was occupied by table grapes, whose imports grew by 22%. For the first time, more than half of table grape imports came from Peru. In the second place among the suppliers was Australia and only in the third – Chile. South Africa, India, Egypt and the USA were also among the major suppliers of table grapes to China.
The fastest growing import was another exotic fruit – mangosteen. China spent $160 million on mangosteen and mango in the reported period, and the lion’s share of the costs fell on mangosteen, the import of these fruits increased by almost 600%.
Another fruit that is very rapidly growing in terms of imports is the durian. The Chinese simply love the durian – this delicious fruit with an incredibly disgusting smell. For the first four months, durian imports to China increased 4.5 times and reached $ 206 million.
Source: East Fruit
Translation: Freshplaza