Mounting trade and political tensions between China and Hong Kong have caused concern amongst Australia’s stonefruit industry, according to ABC Rural.
Hong Kong remains the industry’s major offshore market, with around 50 per cent of Australia’s export crop heading to the Asian nation annually. While market access into Hong Kong is not in any apparent danger, David Minnis, chairman of the Australian Horticulture Exporters Association, said disruptions to trade between Hong Kong and China could prove catastrophic, especially as the Australian industry is yet to win direct airfreight access into the People’s Republic.
“We will be able to ship to Hong Kong, but the on-shipment into more lucrative markets in China will be almost impossible,” Minnis told ABC Rural. “The trade is quite lucrative for certain companies and the Chinese Government isn't earning the duties as the duties that it would get if the product was sent legally direct trade into China. I almost feel there's a vindictive streak coming out in the Chinese. They were not happy with Hong Kong and their demonstrations and they're making life very difficult for traders in Hong Kong. The importers in Hong Kong are now frightened to travel to China.”
John Moore, chairman of peak stonefruit industry body Summerfruit Australia, said should the Hong Kong trade collapse, Australian exporters would be left with very few markets to ship their fruit into. The industry has had limited success in winning access to new markets over the last 20 years and was dealt a hefty blow earlier this year when Vietnam shut its doors to all Australian horticultural imports.
“There are very low domestic farm gate prices as a result of not having some very good export markets,” Moore told ABC Rural. 'We've only got one market in particular, which is Hong Kong, and the second market is the Middle East. Hong Kong takes about 5,500 tonnes out of a total of 13,000 tonnes, but we could double, even triple that if we had a decent market to get into.”
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