Due to tangerines and cherries Chilean fruit exports increased by 11%

In 2018, Chile's fruit exports grew by 11% to 2.9 million tonnes year-on-year. The main impact on export growth was the growth in the supply of tangerines and cherries.

The volume of exports of apples during the reporting period increased by 8% to 776 thousand tons, table grapes by 3% to 724 thousand tons and cherries by 126% to 185 thousand tons.

"The total FOB value of Chile's export fruits amounted to 5.5 billion dollars. Over the past year, this was the largest indicator in the industry. Cherries and blueberries showed significant growth, " said Jorge Valenzuela, President of the Chilean Federation of fruit exporters.

Cherries for the above period replaced kiwi and avocado from the third place in the list of the most popular export fruits after apples and table grapes. The potential of the berries was fully realized due to mild weather conditions during the spring of 2017. It is unlikely that in 2019 the production of cherries will remain at the same level due to hail during the whole spring season.

Among other things, according to preliminary estimates, the export of plums grew last year by 29% year - on - year to 120 thousand tons, nectarines - 11% to 65 thousand tons, peaches-30% to 31 thousand tons, clementines and tangerines-46% to 170 thousand tons. Meanwhile, the volume of avocado supplies decreased by a quarter to 132 thousand tons due to bad weather.