Early this May, the first US cherries of the season arrived in China by air freight. Those who know better say US cherries arrive on the Chinese market around the same time as domestic cherries.
Manager Yang, a spokesperson for Gaobeidian Xinfadi Agricultural Wholesale Market, recently talked about current conditions in the Chinese cherry market.
“Cherries from Dalian have already entered the Chinese market three months ago. The glasshouse cherries from Dalian enter the market in small volumes in early February.
”That is towards the end of the Chilean cherry season. When the market demand increased the price reached around 100 yuan [15.56 USD] per 0.5 kg. Cherry orchards in Dalian enter the harvest season one by one until the second week of May when all of them supply the market in large volumes.
”The peak period of cherry sales continue until late June. This year the weather conditions have been great. The production volume and product quality are both excellent,” said manager Ying.
“The price is gradually coming down as market supply grows. The price of common cherries is now around 10 yuan [1.56 USD] per 0.5 kg.”
Domestic cherry orchards have expanded the surface area devoted to cherry plantation in response to growing demand for domestic cherries. The overall surface area nearly doubled in comparison with last year.
In addition to Dalian, other cherry orchards in Yantai, Linyi, Zibo, Taian, all in Shandong, as well as Tongchuan in Shaanxi, all supply the Chinese market with large volumes of top-quality cherries.
The level of plantation technology in Chinese cherry orchards has also gone up in recent years. This has helped to standardize cherry production in China.
“Covid-19 prevention measurements in north China are more restrictive than in south China. That is why the supply volume in the Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market was a few days later compared to the Huizhan Market [in Shanghai] and the Jiangnan Market [in Guangzhou].
”The sales of the first imported cherries that arrived by air freight are expected to begin on the 10th of May. The price is likely to be quite high when the cherries just enter the market, around 80 yuan [12.45 USD] per 0.5 kg,” said manager Yang.
“The speed in the wholesale market shows that the domestic economy is recovering, so the demand for imported US cherries should be rather high.”
Manager Yang also mentioned the relative advantages of domestic and imported cherries.
“Chilean cherries and domestic cherries enter the market in different seasons. There is very little to compare there because there is no competition. US cherries, however, enter the Chinese market at the same time as domestic cherries.
”Still, their import volume is limited and their target audience is not the same as the audience for domestic cherries. Imported US cherries have a very limited impact on domestic cherry sales.”
“In addition to Chilean and US cherries, Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market also imports cherries from Uzbekistan, but their import volume is rather small,” said manager Yang.
