Chile's fruit exports rise 13% in early 2011 - FreshFruitPortal.com

Chile's fruit exports rise 13% in early 2011

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Chile's fruit exports rise 13% in early 2011

Chile's fresh fruit exports grew 13% year-on-year to 1,718,421 metric tons (MT) in the first five months of 2011, according to the Office of Agriculture Studies and Policy (ODEPA).

The biggest increases were seen for cherries, plums and blueberries with growth rates of 58.4%, 36.4% and 31.6% respectively.

Falls were seen for avocadoes (-41.9%), lemons (-43.2%) and mandarins (-11.6%), but exports rose for most other fruits including pears (19.6%), apples (16.8%), nectarines (13.3%), kiwifruit (9.5%), grapes (9.5%) and peaches (3.8%).

"The significant increases in cherry and blueberry exports followed the adequate meteorological conditions these species faced during the spring, allowing them to reach a productive level that was close to their potential," the ODEPA report said.

"The high productive level of both species should be maintained in the coming seasons, due to the expansion of planting area in recent years.

"The increases in plums, nectarines, pears, peaches and grapes corresponded to a recovery from lower volumes exported in 2010."

ODEPA attributed the rise in apple exports to an earlier season while the annual rise will likely only be small. The report said conditions were 'condusive' to kiwifruit production, while the fall in avocado exports comes on the back of a record year.

Meanwhile, nut exports grew 69.9% during the period with shelled hazelnuts registering growth of 124%, followed by walnuts with shells (97.3%) and walnuts without shells (24.8%).

Related story: Chile's fresh fruit exports grow 19.1% in Q1

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