Cherries drive 18% rise in Chilean fruit exports so far in 2018
Cherries drove an 18% year-on-year rise in Chilean fruit exports from January through August, with the FOB value reaching US$4.6 billion.
Over the eight-month period, cherry exports grew by a massive 187% to US$856 million, while blueberry exports rose by 39% to US$484 million, and fresh plums by 15% to US$158 million.
The figures were recently released by trade promotion agency ProChile.
Cherry export volume during the 2017-18 season nearly doubled year-on-year to exceed 180,000 metric tons (MT).
The growth in fruit exports contributed to a 15% overall rise in non-copper exports from Chile, which reached US$27 billion over the period.
"This is great news for the country. While all export sectors registered positive figures, non-copper exports registered the highest figures since records began, which reinforces the country's intention to diversify its export basket, with greater added value," said ProChile director Jorge OāRyan SchĆ¼tz.
Cherry hectarage overtakes grapes in O'Higgins
In Chile's main cherry production region, O'Higgins, there are now 13,699 hectares of cherry orchards, marking growth of 58% - or 5,024 - hectares since 2015, according to figures from Ciren.
This means that cherries have now overtaken table grapes - which grew by 9% to 13,435 hectares since 2015 - as the region's most planted fruit crop.
The varieties that saw the biggest growth were Lapins and Satina, which more than doubled over the period, each now representing around a quarter of planted hectarage.