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Chinese fruit making big strides in Thailand
Thailand
Monday 10 March 2008
Chinese fruit is increasing its presence in Thailand, wrestling market share away from established exporters. Thailand is proving to be a productive market for Chinese fruit imports, which have increased by almost 70 per cent since the introduction of the Early Harvest Programme between China and ASEAN in 2003, according to a recently published paper by the USDA.
The report states that China provided the largest source of fruit imports for Thailand in 2007, achieving 64 per cent of overall market share at a total value of US$117m. Comparatively, US imports made up 13 per cent of the fruit import market share at a value of US$24m, and Australian fruit imports totalled US$9m, a 5 per cent share.
The improvement of China's position in the Thai market has been attributed to the accelerated tariff elimination agreement signed in June 2003 on top of the Early Harvest Agreement, which has led to a 19 per cent year-on-year increase in apple volumes, a 40 per cent rise in pear volumes, and a jump of over 100 per cent for grape, mandarin, citrus and melon volumes. The swing towards Chinese apples has meant a significant drop in market share for the US, New Zealand and South Africa, with the US in particular experiencing a fall of 16 per cent in Thailand between 2001 and 2007, from 27 to 11 per cent.
Similarly, Chinese pear imports have achieved growth of 600 per cent between 2002 and 2007, from 4,907 tons per year to 39,180 tons per year, again dominating the market when compared with fruit from the US, South Africa, South Korea and Australia.
Meanwhile, the emergence of the Chiang Saen port in northern Thailand is a further by-product of the success of the rapid trade growth between China and Thailand, handling nearly US$10m of fresh fruit in 2006. According to the USDA, the Thai government is planning to expand the facility to support the increase in imports, which are expected to reach 1m tons annually by 2010. This will eradicate capacity limitations which allow only 27 vessels to use the port simultaneously.
The report states that China provided the largest source of fruit imports for Thailand in 2007, achieving 64 per cent of overall market share at a total value of US$117m. Comparatively, US imports made up 13 per cent of the fruit import market share at a value of US$24m, and Australian fruit imports totalled US$9m, a 5 per cent share.
The improvement of China's position in the Thai market has been attributed to the accelerated tariff elimination agreement signed in June 2003 on top of the Early Harvest Agreement, which has led to a 19 per cent year-on-year increase in apple volumes, a 40 per cent rise in pear volumes, and a jump of over 100 per cent for grape, mandarin, citrus and melon volumes. The swing towards Chinese apples has meant a significant drop in market share for the US, New Zealand and South Africa, with the US in particular experiencing a fall of 16 per cent in Thailand between 2001 and 2007, from 27 to 11 per cent.
Similarly, Chinese pear imports have achieved growth of 600 per cent between 2002 and 2007, from 4,907 tons per year to 39,180 tons per year, again dominating the market when compared with fruit from the US, South Africa, South Korea and Australia.
Meanwhile, the emergence of the Chiang Saen port in northern Thailand is a further by-product of the success of the rapid trade growth between China and Thailand, handling nearly US$10m of fresh fruit in 2006. According to the USDA, the Thai government is planning to expand the facility to support the increase in imports, which are expected to reach 1m tons annually by 2010. This will eradicate capacity limitations which allow only 27 vessels to use the port simultaneously.
