KARACHI: Pakistan’s signature citrus fruit, kinnow, is the largest fruit crop by volume. It is also a major export revenue earner for the country.
Talking to Customs Today, former All Pakistan Fruits Vegetables Processors and Exporters Association president said that a bumper kinnow crop was expected this year.
Dubai, he said, was the biggest export market of Pakistani kinnow while Jakarta and Russia were the top value markets of the fruit, he added. He, however, said due to restrictions the fruit was not being exported to the US and Japan. Saudi Arabia and Oman were also major export markets of kinnow in the Middle East, he added.
The biggest export market of the fruit in Europe was Holland, however, due to quarantine restrictions the fruit was being exported to London in small quantities. The volume of fruit exports to France was also low, he added.
Asked if the cost of shipment through reefer containers let kinnow remain competitive against the delectable Chinese mandarin, Siddiqui said that though the cost of reefer containers varies from one shipping company to other with Maersk Shipping and APL Shipping the most expensive, kinnow still competes rival fruit varieties in the export markets.
