Morocco triples blueberry exports to Asia

Overview of blueberries from Morocco, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on July 13, 2024.

Morocco is becoming a world leader in blueberry exports, and the upward trend is affecting several markets, including Southeast Asia. Since 2019, the Kingdom has tripled its exports to this market despite the drought.

Moroccan exports of fresh blueberries are expanding rapidly, making Morocco the 5th largest supplier of this fruit to Southeast Asian countries in 2023, having supplied 1,500 tonnes compared with 450 tonnes in 2019.

According to data from the specialist portal East Fruit, Morocco exported more than three times the volume of a whole year’s exports in the first 4 months of 2024, compared with the figures for 2019. And this only represents exports of this fruit to Southeast Asian countries, not to mention other markets.

The same portal’s fruit and vegetable market analyst, Yevhen Kuzin, pointed out that the main market for fresh blueberries is Hong Kong. It ranks among the world’s top ten importers of this berry.

Nevertheless, it will considerably reduce its imports of fresh blueberries in 2022-2023, dropping to 2019 levels of just over 15,000 tonnes, due to several factors, including the poor harvest in Peru, the world’s leading blueberry exporter, or China’s policy of increasing its blueberry production to replace imports and start exporting.

Other countries remain ranked at the top of the import pyramid in this region, and are rapidly increasing their purchasing volumes. Malaysia and Singapore have increased their blueberry imports by 50% in recent years, and Thailand has more than doubled its imports since 2019.

In 2019, China, the world’s leading blueberry producer, exported just 19 tonnes of blueberries to Southeast Asia, but this figure has climbed to 680 tonnes in the space of 5 years.

From January to April this year, over 800 tonnes of fresh blueberries were imported from China into the region. China is in direct competition with Moroccan blueberry supplies in Southeast Asia, and in April 2024, Chinese exports slightly outstripped Moroccan exports, reaching 410 tonnes against 390 tonnes. says East Fruit.

“To maintain its leading position in the global blueberry export market, Morocco should focus on finding viable alternatives to traditional markets such as the EU and the UK,” says Yevhen Kuzin.

He adds that Southeast Asia has the potential to become one of Morocco’s most important customers for these berries. If market trends are anything to go by, the region’s economic growth rate is set to be the second-fastest in the world after India.

“Of course, competition will intensify, especially from China, but focusing on the premium segment can help offset growing Chinese export volumes,” concludes Yevhen Kuzin.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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