The role of the Southern Hemisphere regarding fruit exports to Asia is becoming increasingly important, as they account for 36% of the total volume exported. Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Peru are among the main exporting countries to Asian markets.
Chile accounts for 24% of these countries' fruit exports to China and it's the main exporting country. New Zealand is the fifth largest exporting country with 6.36%, followed by Australia (4.75%, # 6), South Africa (3.34%, # 8) and Peru (3.24%, # 9). They are particularly important suppliers in terms of value, according to the official statistics of China's Customs last year.
In citrus production, soft citrus fruits (clementines and mandarins) and lemons registered the highest growth, with volumes increasing by 4.3% per year, while the growth rate of oranges remained relatively stable during the last ten years at approximately 1%. Between 2017 and 2018, the total production of clementines and mandarins was 36.3 million tons, 91% of which originated in the northern hemisphere, especially in China (which accounts for 64% of the production in the northern hemisphere), and 9% in the southern hemisphere. The total global production of oranges during the same period was 82 million tons, 70% of which originated in the Northern Hemisphere and 30% in the Southern Hemisphere.
Oranges are a particularly important product for the Chinese market, as they accounted for 6.29% of all Chinese fruit imports in value (0.44 billion dollars) and 8.03% of the volume (0.39 million tons) in 2018, according to official statistics. In 2017, South Africa was the largest exporter of oranges to mainland China, accounting for 34% of the total volume, and the largest joint exporter of oranges to Hong Kong with the S, as both accounted for 30% of the total volume, according to Data of the Statistics Manual of the Congress of Asia. However, despite this strong growth in volume, South African exporters face high tariffs across Asia due to the lack of trade agreements between South Africa and Asian countries, which has limited growth in value.
Meanwhile, the world's total lemon production in 2017/2018 was 6.2 million tons, 59% of which originated in the northern hemisphere and 41% in the southern hemisphere, especially in Argentina (which accounts for 68% of the production of the southern hemisphere).
