Initial doom and gloom predictions of produce sales for the Chinese New Year (CNY) have proven overly bleak, although sales are definitely lower than previous years, according to traders across East Asia.
“In general it’s doing OK - people have been pessimistic, but the market demand has picked up a little in these last few days,” a major Taiwan-based trader told Fruitnet on Wednesday.
“It’s not as bad as expected, but the next few days will be the biggest.”
Taiwanese sales have been dominated by South Korean pears, Japanese apples and New Zealand cherries, which he said have arrived in similar volumes and at similar prices to last year.
In Thailand cherries have also proven popular, this time from Chile, according to Woradech Chaiworapoj of Thongchai Intertrading. Table grapes from Australia have found demand, as have Chinese Fuji apples, pears and mandarins.
Mr Chaiworapoj said demand was down as a combination of the economic outlook and CNY coming so soon after Christmas and the New Year.
“The quality of Chinese fruit is better than previous years,” he added. “In terms of price it is more competitive this year too. For Chilean cherries the quality is excellent, and for Australian grapes the quality is very good.”
In China itself the holiday sales are getting mixed reviews. The sales situation was “average”, Lionel Liang of Zhxing Runfeng told Fruitnet. “The trading volume is OK; it’s remaining steady at the moment,” he said.
Mr Liang agreed the quality of Chilean cherries was very good, but said the large volume on the market was driving down prices.
“The price is much lower than that of previous years; for 10kg the price is at Yn300 (US$43.80) plus per carton,” he explained.
“Oranges from the US are also selling at a very low price given the fact that domestically grown oranges are supplying a huge volume at a very low price. The US orange price currently is Yn120-130 (US$17.50-19) per carton.”
For others the situation hasn’t been as positive: “It is a disaster year for imported fruits, and our volume is expected to drop at least a third. The market is very low, and people’s purchasing power has dropped dramatically,” stated Miao Jing of Tianjin Long Beach.
Sales in Hong Kong have been lacklustre so far, but traders are remaining optimistic. “The rally will start perhaps Friday with more US oranges and some Red Globes from Chile,” said Matthew Tang of Linkage Holdings.
“The early African white seedless grapes came with a good quality, but the price is low, about 15-20 per cent less than last year’s price. They’re netting about US$17-18 per carton,” said Mr Tang.
“The price on the US Red Delicious apples is still staying high, but there are no good fruits. In general, the US storage grapes are not performing well either. Quality is the main issue.”
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