Drop in kinnow exports may get steeper

Pakistan has missed the kinnow export target by 33% as the four-month season draws to an early close…

Pakistan has missed the kinnow export target by 33% as the four-month season draws to an early close. It exported around 200,000 tonnes of kinnow against the target of 300,000 tonnes. The season officially ends on March 15 every year. But more than 60% of the factories were closed by the end of February.

The drop in kinnow exports is sharp as Pakistan sold 370,000 tonnes in the foreign market last year. Although a group of exporters has expressed some doubt about that figure, the Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association insists that it is accurate and claims to have earned $222 million. Going by that figure, the drop is just under 50% year-on-year.

On top of it, exporters have said the downward trend will not only continue but is also expected to worsen going forward. Terming the early close of the export season a sign that the worst is yet to come, the exporters warn that kinnow exports are now a matter of “a few years”.

According to dawn.com, the fruit has not only lost most of the international market but is also losing the residual demand because of multiple factors, such as diseases, lack of certification, high prices and a massive increase in the cost of business.