Chile: Plums are difficult trade
The situation on the plums market has calmed down a bit. There were several aspects that made the tr…The situation on the plums market has calmed down a bit. There were several aspects that made the trade extra difficult at the end of last year. First of all the uncertainty of the trade with Russia and in the second place the weak Euro negatively influenced the trade. At the end of 2014 the plum price was the highest in the history of Chile.
The last few months the lowest demand of the last 10 years was added to this situation. The global situation puts pressure on the price in Chile. Added to that the low yield in France and in Argentina the harvest was below 15,000 metric tons.
At the moment the prices stabilized and the demand slowly increases in the EU, the USA and Asia. The gap in the prices between Chile and Argentina, which used to be around 10%, was at 40% at the beginning of the season and has slightly dropped at present.
There are companies in Chile that produce plums without potassium sorbate. This allows the plums to be packaged without pathogens in all sizes - even with an expiry date of up to 24 months. There are efforts underway to produce plum paste to meet the demand for fruit bars and jams.