Increase in the export of Brazilian fresh fruits

First quarter of the year points towards the return of the sector in the international market

The first quarter of the year begins in a positive manner for the export of fresh fruits after a weak 2009. The volume shipped until March totaled 113 thousand tons, a slight increase of 0.60% compared to last year. However, there are fruits that had a better performance, such as mango, which had an increase of 12% in exported volume; lime with 11%; and melon with 10%.

The exports to the United States increased by 130%, mainly due to mango and apple. Nonetheless, Europe, the biggest importer of fruits from Brazil still has a negative balance, with a reduction of 2.24% in the exported volume compared to last year.

Regarding processed fruits – juices, pulps and nuts, there was a reduction of 9% in the value in comparison to last year, influenced by the retraction of orange juice. The nuts, however, had a good representation in exports. The cashew nut increased by 20% of the exported value, Brazil nuts in shells had an increase of 67% and Brazil nuts without the shells had an increase of 496%.

Arab Countries

The highlight of the first quarter goes to the Arab countries that increased the purchase of fresh Brazilian fruits by 30%. The main purchasing countries were the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The fruit responsible for this performance was the apple, which exported 4 thousand tons to this region, showing an increase of 60% in comparison to the same period last year. The processed fruits, however, had a slight increase of 3%, and the main countries were Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Despite the Arab countries representing only 2.85% of the export of Brazilian fresh fruits and 1.16% of the processed fruits, "there is a high tendency to increase in case the Brazilian companies start to invest in this market", states the executive manager of Ibraf, Valeska de Oliveira. "Some Arab countries like the Emirates and Saudi Arabia are part of the target markets on the next international marketing project executed in partnership with Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), due to the increase in demand by these countries for fresh and processed fruits such as pulps and nuts", he adds.