In 2019, Spain expects to start shipping high quality table grapes to China in modest quantities, with a volume oscillating between 2,000 and 3,000 tons, since the sector considers this "interesting market" an objective for the medium term.
This has been stated by the president of the Association of Producers-Exporters of Fruits, Table Grapes and Other Agricultural Products (Apoexpa), Joaquín Gómez, who said that the opening of the Chinese market to the Spanish table grape "is coming in handy" for the producers.
He recalled that the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Madrid in late November last year came shortly after the end of the seedless grape campaign in Spain, reports Efeagro. He also said that the registration of the plots growing the table grapes that will be shipped to China will start to be carried out during these winter months.
He added that "China will never be a destination like Germany or the United Kingdom, but it can be an Interesting market to ship a few hundred containers."
In his analysis, he pointed out that despite the fact that China is a country with a large population, the consumer to which Spanish table grapes are targeted is the one with a high purchasing power, "so we hope that the trade will be more focused on prices that on volumes."
China, he added, is the world's largest grape producer, but despite this, it imports around 200,000 tons each year.
