BRASÍLIA: The 2017 Brazilian apple season has wrapped up with a marked recovery in exports after volumes were cut in half last year. Brazil’s national statistics service Aliceweb shows total exports from January through August this year were registered at 55,415 metric tons (MT). This would mark an 81% rise from the 30,636MT exported last year, but just an 8% drop from the 60,112MT shipped in 2015.
Almost all the industry’s key destinations saw increased volumes of Brazilian apples this season, with exports to leading market Bangladesh doubling to 18,800MT. There were also increases for Ireland (+168%; 8,594MT), Portugal (+69%; 5,729MT), the U.K. (+211%; 4,190MT) and France (+129%; 3,142MT). There were declines, however for Russia (-3%; 2,307MT) and the Netherlands (-44%; 2,001MT). The Netherlands had been the second-biggest market in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, with exports in excess of 10,000MT. While Brazil’s apple export volumes did not quite reach 2015 levels this season, its financial returns ended up higher. According to Aliceweb, the total FOB value of shipments this year was US$41.9 million compared to US$18.1 million last year and US$40.6 million in 2015.
