Pay attention to Latin America's Ambitions

PAY ATTENTION TO LATIN AMERICA’S AMBITIONS

Latin America is becoming the leading geographic area among the international fruit and vegetables growers; Mediterranean producers should pay attention to what’s going on in that area. To the extraordinary Central America’s little Countries that already have a leadership in the international export of bananas (the world’s most eaten fruit) and pineapples (the fruit that increased the most in consumption in Italy and Spain), we must also take in consideration the ambitions of big Countries like Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Colombia. Among the BRIC Countries, Brazil has the prerequisites for becoming the first agricultural power in the world.

It is true that after several years of strong growth, in the last quarters Brazil is going through a less favourable period. As for today, the “Brazilian Miracle” is part of the non-flattering situation of the credit blast as economic engine. Unlike China, who set its target on exports, Brazil has bet on families’ consumption. However, nowadays this model is showing all its limits and risks with a booming of non-paid refunds of loans. The national consumption no longer appears to be able to sustain the growth.
If the real Latin American giant slows down (but be careful, its agriculture has exceptional potentials), Peru’s fruit and vegetables exports are constantly increasing. According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETEUR), we can observe an annual growth of 27%; Between the year 2000 and 2011 fruit and vegetables exportations registered a rise in value from 101 millions to about 1 billion dollars, with a wide diversification of supply.
Minister José Luis Silva thinks that if exports will continue on this path, then Peru could become the leading fruit and vegetables exporter. Peru’s agricultural exports this year should grow remarkably, hitting +15%; they benefit firstly from the free trade agreements the Country has made with China, Japan and the United States but also from favourable prices for products such as asparagus, mangoes and grapes. United States are the main market where Peru delivers its products, absorbing 23% of the total exports of fruit and vegetables; other export destinations include The Netherlands (13%), Colombia (7%), Germany (6%), Spain (6%) and Ecuador (5%). Last year, this Southern American Country exported 842 millions tons of  fruit and vegetables, for a value of 1.1 billions of dollars. The most exported products were, in valuable order: grapes (299 millions of dollars), asparagus (289 millions of dollars), avocadoes (164 millions of dollars), mangoes (117 millions of dollars), bananas (69 millions of dollars) and lemons (66 millions of dollars). We mustn’t forget that Peru is the leading exporter of asparagus, the second most important exporter of avocadoes and it ranks third in organic bananas exports. The surfaces dedicated to the various crops are growing. As for grapes, the website Agraria.pe says that the Country’s cropped areas have increased by 20% in recebt years, reaching 12,000 hectares. The Red Globe variety represents 60% of the exported grapes. Juan Carlos Brignardello, Managing Director of Viticola SA, hopes to increase the exports towards Asia, particularly China, and Europe, particularly Germany.
It’s no accident that Peru will be the partner country of Fruit Logistica 2013, taking place next year on 6-8 February in Berlin. Christian Göke, Manager of Messe Berlin, says: “I’m happy that Peru will be there with its variety of high quality fruit and vegetables, enjoying more and more international fame. Fruit Logistica is the most suitable place to increase fresh producte exports, since it’s here that all the players of the fruit and vegetables international sector gather”.
We have described Peru’s situation to better explain why Mediterranean growers must pay attention to the productive and commercial evolution of Latin America. The productive system of today is so flexible, to the point that it can overcome the seasonal production barrier: in practical terms, this means that the two hemispheres’ production could more and more overlap instead of being distinct. Seasons are more and more changeable because of the most various elements: early and late varieties are used by growers to open the path to new markets, growing systems are more and more sophisticated; in many Countries, there’s the possibility to grow in different productive areas for climate, altitude etc.
Expectations for an entirely globalized market seems thus to be more and more closer and real. Today’s Latin America appears to be more efficient and commercially aggressive than China itself.

Antonio Felice
Green Med Journal managing director
article: http://www.greenmed.eu 

image: http:www.wikipedia.org