Peru close to the top 10 of main fruit exporters

By: Jackeline Cárdenas I.

The historical number of exports reached in 2021, exceeding US$ 56,000 million, brought with it another piece of good news. And it is that pulled by the exports of grapes, avocados, blueberries and mangoes, our country is close to being included in the ranking of the 10 main fruit exporters in the world.

The latest export report from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (mincetur), published in the first days of February, highlights that All sectors of the Peruvian economy have increased their exports and even exceeded pre-pandemic figures.

However, the eyes of the world rested on the agricultural sector, which as a whole exported US$ 8,018 million, equivalent to an advance of 18.2%.

In detail, avocado reached a record export figure of 40%, which meant US$1,165 million during the year 2021. Blueberries followed (22%) with US$1,240, grapes (21%) with US$1,260 million, mango (11%) with US$471 million, cocoa and derivatives (10.2%) with US$309 million and asparagus (3.5%) with US$546 million.

In this regard, the Vice President of Business Development of HEP Peru, Juan Carlos Mathews, explained that, within the behavior of exports, beyond minerals that represent 60%, the sector that has had the greatest growth is undoubtedly the agro-exporter , since fruits, vegetables and super foods are the ones that have grown with greater solidity.

“There is a trend of healthy eating in the world that has been accentuated by the pandemic and our country has spectacular and ideal climate, soil and geographical location conditions to produce these foods,Mathews pointed out.

The specialist pointed out that a few months ago we were overtaking Chile and Australia as one of the largest food exporters in the world.

The agro-exporttraditional and non-traditional, reached US$8,874 million in 2021, setting a new record.

Although the outlook for the agricultural sector is very optimistic, Mathews recommends that there be clarity on certain initiatives such as the Second Agrarian Reform promoted by the Government, which could put at risk this almost assured growth of this sector.

More destinations, more work

The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom are the markets that most request Peruvian products such as avocados, grapes and blueberries. In this regard, Mathews explains that this trend had been going on for some years and that the novelty is that exports to the Chinese market are going to grow.

On the other hand, he highlights that the growth of agro-exports is good news from all angles, since its production chain is numerous: “If I export asparagus in Trujillo, not only do I win, but the producer of the tinplate container, the producer of glass containers, labels, corrugated cardboard, transport, customs, taxation to the State. There is a chain of actors involved and this translates into more work for Peruvians”.

Data

Provinces. The exports of the regions, in 2021, reached a record figure (US$ 40,804 million), growing 31%.

MSMEs. Last year, the number of exporters reached 8,573, 68% were micro, small and medium enterprises.

New record on the way

Focus by: Edgar Vásquez, director of CIEN at ADEX

This year we are not going to see growth like in 2021.

From the Association of Exporters we believe that exports will slow down significantly, and there will be a growth of only 5%. This decrease would be related to traditional exports that are expected to grow only 3.7%, mining is the factor that will generate this slowdown.

On the non-traditional side, we do believe that there is room for significant growth and it could reach 8.4%, this is due to the fact that our main trading partners such as the United States and the European Union, including China, are going to have favorable performances. For the agricultural sector, we estimate a growth of 10.2% (US$ 9,740 million), which could be a new record.