By FreshPlaza.comBrazilian apple imports added up to 50,800,000 tons, with Argentina as main provider (40,100,000 tons in the last eight months). With a strong currency (Real) and a loss in quality in the 2011 harvest due to past hail storms, more imported apples are reaching the Brazilian market. From January to August, according to data from the Brazilian Secretary of External Commerce, the amount of imported fruits rose by 47.7%, reaching 50,800,000 tons.
According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Apple Producers (ABPM), Pierre Pérès, Argentina is the main origin country of the imported fruits. According to data from Secex, Argentina exported about 40,100,000 tons of fruit to Brazil in the last eight months, corresponding to 79% of the all imported amount in that period.
According to the investigation of family budget by IBGE, the apple consumption per capita was 1.68 kilo per inhabitant per year in 2002. As for 2008, this consumption was at 2.15 kilos per inhabitant, a 28% increase in 6 years. The evaluation is that consumption tends will go up in 2011, regarding a bigger pressure from fruit offered in the market.
Pérès said that Argentinian apple reaches a final cost close to R$45 per box, while national fruit is at R$36. According to the leader, what really damages the national market is the arrival of lower quality fruit traded at R$30.
According to Evanir Almerida, commercial director for "Renar Manzanas", despite the rise in harvest amounts, hail lowered its quality, meaning a drop in price on a average of 5% and 6%. For him, importing is not causing many problems for Renar businesses, as Brazilian people are still not in the habit of consuming Argentinian fruit.
As for commercialized apple types in the Brazilian market, Almeida pointed out that "here, the most popular are Fuji and Gala. So, indirectly, the price of imported fruits is influenced by the market value in the end".
For "Sanjo", in San Joaquim (SC), weather conditions forced a drop in the harvest, that reached 40,000 tons against the 43,000 tons from 2010. Hail reduced producer's income by 7%, about R$4,000,000 that didn't reach the producer and, as consequence, affected the regional economy, according to this company.
At "Agrícola Fraiburgo", there was also a 7% impact in production. The company diversified cultivations in four different areas - San Joaquim, Vacaria, Fraiburgo and Urupema - to minimize the weather effects on fruit. 30,000 tons were harvested and in total, "Agrícola Fraiburgo" managed to trade 60,000 tons.
Despite hail damaging 2011 harvest, the president for the association says that the exchange rate was also an important factor helping fruit import. Real's value also damaged exports of Brazilian fruit to Europe, one of the main destinations.
"The European market retracted in the last two years, but at the moment, producers in Chile and Argentina are selling strongly there", affirms Ricardo Burchardt, commercial supervisor for "Agrícola Fraiburgo". According to Secex, apple amounts exported in the first eight months of the year had a 53% drop regarding the same period of last year.
The president of ABPM, Pierre Pérès, also questioned the control system by the Ministry of Agriculture in Argentina. According to him, vigilance in Brazil with points in Mendoza and Rio Negro, is limited to...Read Full Article
