World fresh fruit market (08-04)

The World Fresh Fruit Market
This report outlines recent trends in world fruit production and highlights the top fresh fruit producers and traders. The United States is a key player in the global fresh fruit market, as it is the largest exporter and second largest importer of fresh fruit, second to only the European Union. This report will focus on the intensifying global competition that theUnited States faces, both in its most important export markets as well as on the world market level. Production World fruit production has been relatively steady over the past four years. In 2003 world fruit production reached 379.15 million metric tons, a 0.85 percent increase from 2002. The percentage increase in world production is only slightly higher than the 0.65 percent increase from 2001 to2002. Before production leveled off in 2000, world fruit production grew at an average of 3.15 percent per year between 1995 and 2000, compared to an average growth rate of 0.86 percent per year for the period 2000 – 2003. Figure 1: World Fruit Production, 1996-2003
400 350 Million Metric Tons 300 250 200 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Year ProductionSource: FAOSTAT, 2004

Key Producers Figure 2 identifies the largest fresh fruit producers. China is the world’s largest fruit producer, producing 19 percent of the world’s fruit in 2003. The European Union (EU) is the world’s second largest producer, with 14 percent of the world’s production. The third largest fruit producer is India, where 12 percent of the world’s fruit was grown in 2003. AsFigure 2 indicates, production is increasing in China at a much faster rate than in the other top producing countries. Production growth averaged almost 6 percent per year during the period 1996 – 2003 in China, while production growth in India averaged 2.73 percent per year. The EU experienced a lower annual growth rate of 0.89 percent during the 1996 – 2003 period.

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Other key producersinclude Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Chile, and South Africa. Production in the United States and Brazil has been relatively constant over the period 1996 – 2003, with average annual growth rates of 0.61 percent in the United States and 0.34 percent in Brazil. Mexico, South Africa, and Chile have experienced slightly higher average annual production growth rates over the same period at 2.12percent, 2.56 percent, and 1.3 percent, respectively. Figure 2. Top Fruit Producers
80 70 60 Million MetricTons 50 40 30 20 10 0 1996 1997 Chile US
Source: FAOSTAT, 2004

1998

1999 Year China South Africa

2000 Mexico Brazil

2001

2002 EU India

2003

Fresh Fruit Trade The total export value of fresh fruits from all exporters was greater than $11 billion in 2003 and continues to growrapidly. Fresh fruit exports have more than doubled in value since 1996 to reach the current value, and have increased in dollar terms by nearly 30 percent since 2000. In terms of quantity, exports have nearly doubled since 1996 and have increased 16 percent since 2000. The export market is growing largely due to increased consumption demand and the development of technology to facilitate tradein fresh fruits. Consumption of fresh fruits is increasing in the United States as well as abroad and is expected to continue to increase. Demand for fresh fruits on a year-round basis is increasing, and consumers are willing to pay higher prices for out-of-season fresh fruit. The invention and adoption of new transportation and controlled atmosphere technologies allow fresh fruit to travel greaterdistances and still maintain its freshness. The increased demand and technology facilitate increased international trade in fresh fruit, providing consumers with greater choices of quality fresh fruit on a year-round basis.

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The export market for fresh fruits is highly competitive among the top exporters. Gaining access to foreign markets is critical to countries that are large...