Peruvian exports of fresh, canned and frozen asparagus in 2013 amounted to $606 million and 181.7 million kilos, said the executive director of the Peruvian Asparagus and Vegetables Institute (IPEH) Carlos Zamorano Macchiavello.
He stressed that the volume shipped in 2013 was lower than in 2012, when 185 million kilos were exported, but that its value was higher as exports had amounted to $538 million in 2012.
Carlos Zamorano explained that the shipments of fresh asparagus in 2013 amounted to $409 million dollars and 123.7 million kilos. The main markets, he said, were the United States, where more than 70% of the product was exported, followed by England, the Netherlands, Spain, and to a lesser extent, Japan and Australia. Total exports of fresh asparagus in 2012 amounted to 118 million kilos.
Canned asparagus was exported to Spain, France, USA and Germany. Shipments in 2013 amounted to USD $147 million (46.8 million kilos). In 2012, they amounted to 54 million kilos.
Exports of frozen asparagus amounted to $50 million (11 million kilos). Its main destinations were the USA, with 55% of the total, followed by Japan and Spain. Exports of frozen asparagus in 2012 amounted to 13 million kilos.
IPEH's Executive Director noted that, as a result of the increased demand from the United States, only the volume of fresh asparagus exports had increased when compared to 2012.
"Peru is increasing its rate of shipments of fresh asparagus to the United States. 77 million kilos were exported to that market in 2012 and 86 million kilos in 2013. This increase was due to the good prices paid, which motivated exporters to continue sending shipments," noted Carlos Zamorano.
In this regard, he said, they were trying to improve sanitary conditions so that there would be a higher increase of fresh green asparagus shipments to the U.S. One of the points they are working on is the elimination of the fumigation treatment to which the asparagus is subjected.
"At the request of APHIS, SENASA presented a risk mitigation system in December 2013. Currently, the U.S. phytosanitary authority is studying it. Hopefully we'll get an answer from them between this year and the first quarter of 2015 so that we can start exporting the product without fumigation. At first, only a few companies will be able to do so, but we would be entering the US without such treatment," he said.
Source: Agraria.pe