Chilean fruit exports reached US$922m in January, an increase of 20 per cent on the same period last year and the highest total achieved by the industry in the past decade, according to data published by the Central Bank. The corresponding figures for January 2014 and 2013 were US$764m and US$704m.
One of the main reasons for the rise was the strong prices in table grapes, which got underway some two weeks earlier than usual this year following a warmer- and drier-than-usual production season. Export revenues were also boosted by a strong 2014/15 cherry season, which saw shipments climb to 20m cartons compared with 14m last year. The average price for a carton of cherries this season was US$28 FOB, and the red fruit is expected to account for US$560m of Chile’s US$4.7bn forecast total export revenue this year.
In spite of the strong results, Asoex president Ronald Bown sounded a note of caution. “Ten years ago we didn’t have a cherry export industry, so we have to consider it as an extra bonus. And although grape prices have started strongly, there is no guarantee that this will continue,” he warned.
Bown added that Chile’s precarious port situation also posed a danger to fruit exports. “This issue has been rolling on for ten years and we still haven’t reached a solution,” he said. “More than US$200m of fruit was caught up in last year’s strike.”