According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, food exports fell 1pc to $4.251bn in 11 months of FY15 from $4.293bn in a year-ago period.
In 11 months of FY15, fruit exports, the biggest in food category after rice, remained unchanged at the year-ago level as shipments saw a 10pc decline. That happened as mangoes’ shipments were returned from some European destinations due to presence of fruit fly. Wooden crates in which mangoes and other fruits were shipped out were also found infested with bacteria in some cases. Though these two issues have now been taken care of, fall in fruit exports in FY15 keeps the challenge of creating enough exportable fruit surplus alive.
Official stats show a modest increase in fruit production in recent years. So, the decline in export volumes can be explained by higher domestic demand of fruits and rising local cost of exportable fruits. The entire fruit market is dominated by investors, contractors and commission agents who seek higher returns on investment and charge fatter fee for their services every year, exporters maintain.
This is elbowing out small and medium exporters from the scene leaving the export business exclusively in the hands of big players.
Exports of vegetables grew 8.4pc in value in 11 months of FY15 over the same period of FY14. But here again, additional forex earning was far lesser than what it should have been because it came on the back of a huge 24.3pc increase in export volumes. This is indicative of two things, exporters say. First, per-unit price of the exported veggies either remained stagnant or declined and second, export volumes of pricier vegetables didn’t rise as much as that of low-price veggies.
