Pakistan, a global leader in producing and exporting mangoes, is only rivalled by its Indian neighbors. Pakistan exports around 10% of its mangoes to the world, including to their clients in Europe, North America, Asia & the Pacific, Middle East and the Commonwealth Independent States or CIS (Kazakhstan, Uzbekiztan, etc.).
Pakistan’s mangoes are exported in three ways, by land to nearby countries; by sea to the Middle East; and by air to farther countries. According to Abdul Malik, the Chairman of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA), “For the UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, we usually ship them by sea. For Japan, Korea, Australia, the US, Canada and the UK, we normally have the mangoes air freighted. Our biggest customers are actually our neighbors: Iran, Afghanistan and the CIS. We have also been penetrating China with our Chaunsa variety of mango which is available in July.”
Pakistan has been unfortunate this year, as strong rains and winds have destroyed crops in the province of Punjab. Malik says, “Punjab usually produces 60% of the country’s mangoes, but because of the unstable weather in the province, our country will produce 200,000 tons less and we will not be hit our export target of 100,000 tons."
Malik admits to being hopeful, he says, “On the brighter side, the Sindh region has been experiencing good weather. This region is our key producer for neighboring countries specifically the CIS. Besides the good weather in the Sindh, we are also quite fortunate in that the current foreign exchange rate is favorable to us. Despite exporting smaller quantities, these mangoes will fetch better prices, which will somewhat make up for the losses in production.
The current political situation in the Middle East, involving Qatar and several other Arab countries, won’t have a big impact on Pakistan’s mango industry. According to Malik, “The UAE is our transshipment point for the Middle East. It re-exports our mangoes to the rest of the region. Despite the current tensions with Qatar, we are not worried, because Qatar does not import large quantity of mangoes from Pakistan.”
Typically Pakistan’s mango season starts in June and ends in September, narrowly escaping their biggest rival India’s mango season which starts in March and ends in June. India is reportedly also serving a similar clientele to that of Pakistan; countries such as Australia, Iran, China and Korea.
“Usually India does not pose a big threat to our business, because we start our mango season in June when India is about to wrap up with their season. Only in some destinations in the Far East is the competition with India very tight - places such as Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singapore, etc. In Europe and in bordering countries like the CIS, Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East, it is a different story, we believe this is our stronghold and are we not bothered by Indian mango supplies.”
