April is looking like the first month Australian table grapes will have direct access to the Chinese mainland market, and while growers and exporters are not putting on their party hats just yet, the new market access is definitely some much-needed icing on the industry’s cake, which this year doesn’t have quite as many slices as the sector would like.
Despite not having direct access, China has still become Australia’s largest table grape export market over the last few seasons. But with all Australia’s fruit going through the Hong Kong-Guangzhou grey trade, and the vast majority of fruit imported into the Jiangnan Market being consumed within Guangdong Province, new access via other points of entry represent even further opportunities for exporters.
“If we can open up cities like Shanghai and Beijing, and they take another 100 containers each, it’s really like opening up a new country,” said John Argiro from M&A Exports. “Those markets have only been supplied out of Guangzhou; they’re essentially untapped.”
Shanghai, Beijing and Dalian are the cities generally identified as the key opportunities for Australian grapes once access is granted. Developing those markets will be a steady process of demonstrating to buyers that Australian grapes can be provided at reliably high quality, according to Jeff Scott, CEO of the Australian Table Grape Association (ATGA).
“We’ve got large interest, so we’re hoping to send the first three or four containers to whet their appetite,” he told Fruitnet.com. “This year is very much about sending good quality fruit to start with. The ATGA will follow the first containers to visit importers, and promote `Australian grapes` by networking to generate interest.”
If Australia can provide buyers in northern China with high quality fruit to required specifications, exporters are confident the market will provide prices that make the business sustainable.
“If we can give them sweet fruit with good colour, they’ll pay what we need to get,” stated Mr Argiro. “We believe we can do that, and we can’t wait to get these ports open.”
Australian access to the Chinese mainland is still waiting on export licences to be issues by authorities, which may still take some weeks.
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