Several key products in China’s fresh fruit import market sold well during May, although the outlook for June appears somewhat tougher.
According to Tony Lin of import company One Trade, grape demand was relatively firm during May thanks to reduced supplies from Chile and improvements in quality and exchange rates for Australia.
“Chilean grapes in general are doing quite well, as supply volumes are down almost 50 per cent,” he detailed in late May. “The quality on Australian Crimson grapes has not been very consistent compared with last year, and the Australian dollar climbed really high a few weeks ago, but the Australian dollar has settled back to more normal levels and there’s been some better quality Crimson `in the market` of late. Crimson is not doing too badly now.”
On the citrus market, early shipments of South African Star Ruby grapefruit received a good reception, according to Mr Lin. “Star Ruby has been doing quite well, mostly because it’s the beginning of the season, but quality and flavour have been good, with good sugar levels,” he said.
It’s a different story for dragon fruit, however, as a price war has driven market prices down below cost levels, Mr Lin noted.
“It’s been a rough year for dragon fruit, as the cost of product is higher than the selling price,” he explained. “Competitors have been slashing prices to compete with each other.”
While most imported fruits have been performing fairly well, Raymond Jin of importer-distributor Golden Wing Mau pointed out that the market could come under pressure in June as the country’s large domestic lychee crop hits peak production.
Lychee crops in two of China’s major growing regions – Hainan Island and Guangdong Province – are both up by at least a third this season, according to Mr Jin.
While production from Hainan came on stream in early May, 10 days earlier than normal, harvesting and packing in Guangdong Province was getting under way last week, with production looking to be up by 30-40 per cent, he said.
The ever-hungrier domestic market is playing a bigger role in marketing of the Chinese lychee crop, according to Mr Jin, and with such bumper volumes this year, prices look likely to slump to very low levels during June. A flood of low-priced lychees from Guangdong this month could affect demand for fresh fruit imports, he warned.
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