Even with several challenges faced by Brazilian fruit growers and exporters in the first three months of the year, fruit exports registered a 2 percent increase in volume compared to the same period of the previous year.
The total volume of fresh fruit sent abroad so far has been 250,000 tons, but in terms of value, there were no increases, the same values as the previous year were recorded, with revenues of $196 million, as reported by Abafrutas.
Melon, lemon, mango and watermelon were the fruits with the most registered shipments from January to April 2022. Despite the increase of only 4 percent in volume in melon exports, around 76,000 tons of the fruit were sent to the international market, with revenue of $47.1 million.
Lemons registered an increase of 20 percent, with shipments of almost 37,000 tons. This increase was due to a few points, among them the foreign market had more attractive prices than the domestic one.
In addition, countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala were left without production, making room for more Brazilian lemons to be shipped abroad. Another highlight for this increase was the opening of the Chilean market in the first month of the year, with the first shipments of Tahiti limes being shipped in February.
Mango was the most exported fruit in 2021, and in this quarter, it registered a 9 percent increase in volume. However, due to the intense rains that hit the São Francisco Valley region, the main production hub, directly affected the quality of the fruit, resulting in an 8 percent drop in value.
Another crop whose production was affected by rain was grapes. According to the producers, there is no fruit in the field, consequently, little has been sold on the domestic market, which resulted in a 59 percent drop in exports in volume and 61 percent in value.
Apples also reduced by 52 percent in volume and 56 percent in value. The drop in production due to drought in apple-producing regions was one of the factors that resulted in the decrease in shipments. The drought also caused a reduction in the size of the fruit, which harms exports. The war between Russia and Ukraine and logistical obstacles were also elements that contributed to this result.
Despite the impacts generated by the war on the price of fuels, fertilizers and other inputs, as well as logistical issues that have harmed exports in general, the sector believes that new markets and actions to promote Brazilian fruits will continue to drive the increase in 2-3 percent in fruit exports in the next quarter.
