On 1 May, the Indian National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) announced that from 1 June 2017 India will temporarily stop importing Chinese apples and pears. The reason is that they found mealybugs in imported apples and pears, which are harmful organisms that should be quarantined. Once this news spread, the price for Shandong apples dropped.
India is one of the main markets for fruit export from Shandong. From January to March this year, Shandong exported more apples and pears to India than any other exporting country, holding a third of the Indian market, adding up to 47.000 tons, which is 74% higher than the year before. According to the regulations, exporting countries have stopped their export to India beforehand, because they are afraid that, if they send their products after 12 May, they will not arrive in India in time. Their stock is now piling up. Other South-East Asian countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, are taking advantage of the situation and demanding lower prices, which creates difficulties for the exporting companies. Simultaneously, it creates pressure to lower prices on the market for raw materials.
For the pear production in Longkou, Yantai, this is a deadly blow. Over the past few years, the annual production volume of pears reached almost 10,000 tons, of which 80% was sold to the Indian market, where they were very popular among Indian consumers. This measure will have a severe influence on the sales volume of pears.
