The plum season has started in the southern hemisphere. This season, Australian plums are struggling in the market because their product quality is not great this year. Chilean plums, however, are selling well. Their supply volume is small and they are in great demand. Mike, a spokesperson for specialized stone fruit importer, Guangzhou Green Belt Food Co., Ltd., recently talked about current conditions in the Chinese plum market.
According to Mike, "Most Australian plums, with the exception of some minor plum varieties, suffered from poor growing conditions and their flavor is less than ideal. The fruit flesh is weak. The plums are holding a lot of water, and they are not as sweet as usual. The product quality is not great, which only puts more pressure on sales. The market price of Australian plums is currently around 220 yuan [33.79 USD] per box of 10 kg. Traders are looking for second-tier buyers to stimulate sales."
"Sino-Australian trade relations were somewhat strained when the plum season began. Many Australian exporters were hesitant at the beginning and were only willing to dispatch their products after they received payment. But with the season going on, production areas have difficulties for selling, especially varieties with unfavorable quality. Exporters then started to make comprises on payment terms, in order to stimulate the sales," Mike said.
The shipping container shortage at the moment made international distribution much more difficult, especially when the grape season started. Many containers were pre-booked by grapes exporters, so there were fewer containers available for plum exporters. Some of them are facing logistic challenges."
Some plum varieties like Black Amber were not that much in demand last year, but now buyers are competing to purchase these plums. "That is why the price of Chilean plums has been high since the beginning of the season. The price of Fortune plums used to be around 100-110 yuan [15.36-16.89 USD] per box, but is now around 150-160 yuan [23.04-24.57 USD] per box. Importers of Chilean plums can look forward to a healthy profit this season."
"The Chilean plum season is coming to an end. The product quality suffered somewhat from heavy rainfall in January, and some of the plums have turned soft. Every box has about 3-5 bad plums and there have been more customer complaints than in previous years. Sellers have to work harder to provide satisfactory customer service. As pressure grows towards the end of the season, so does the price fall," explained Mike.
"We have noticed that many Chilean plum farmers have invested much energy in the quality improvement of their plum varieties. They developed the Cherry plum and the Sun Jewel plum. Both are excellent plum varieties. Chilean cherry exporters have made enormous profit in the Chinese market in the last few years and other Chilean exporters have noticed the huge potential of the Chinese market. They hope to develop other stone fruits that will have the same amount of success that Chilean cherries have in the Chinese market."
For more information:
Mike Wang
Guangzhou Green Belt Food Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 139 2507 3993
E-mail: mw@altaifresh.com