Thai fruits buck the trend of slumping exports
Thai fruits remain popular in the world market, defying the global economic slowdown and shrinking exports, Department of Trade Negotiations director-general, Auramon Supthaweethum said.
“One reason supporting Thai fruit exports is the increasing trend of healthy food consumption,” she explained. “Free Trade Agreements have also helped reduce or scrap import duties in partner countries, and made Thai fruits more competitive.”
From January to October, Thailand’s fruit exports moved from 10th position in the world in 2018 to sixth, behind Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, US and Chile. Thai fruit exports were valued at US$3.213 billion, up 41 per cent from the same period of last year.
The main export market for Thai fruits is Asean countries and China, with exports to these destinations accounting for $2.690 billion, or 84 per cent of total exports. “The most popular Thai fruits were durian, mangosteen and longan, for which Thailand is the number one exporter,” the director-general added.
Presently, FTAs with China, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, and Hong Kong have led to scrapping of customs duties on all kinds of frozen and dried fruits. Meanwhile, other FTA partners -- Japan, South Korea, India, and Malaysia -- have cancelled import duties on most processed fruits on the list.
Also, Auramon said the trend of healthy food consumption would give Thailand an opportunity to export more fruits.
“To win customers’ hearts, farmers should ensure their products meet international standards in sanitary and phytosanitary. Besides, they should improve product quality to satisfy the market demand for organic fruits,” she added.