DM Monitoring
BEIJING: Last year Pakistan produced more than 1.5 million tons of mangoes and exported a record 115,000 tons worth US$80 million, making it the sixth-largest exporter of the fruit in the world and also enjoyed huge share of sales on international market.
But in the past six months, exports have dropped around 40 percent as compared to the same period last year and with just a few months left of the season, it was very hard to estimate the loss and costs, Zhou Rong, senior fellow of Chongyang Institute for financial study of Renmin University of China said.
The fruit also helps sweeten diplomatic relations. Pakistan right now is sending its best mangoes to international dignitaries and celebrities ‘after overcoming travel restrictions’, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Thursday. Pakistan has started exporting mangoes to Japan in a major relief for mango growers in the country. With much of the world’s air traffic grounded by the coronavirus, exports of the best prime, ripe fruit by plane to the United States and Europe have been particularly hard hit, but ground transport has also been badly affected.
For example, dozens of trucks piled high with the yellow fruit were stranded at the border with Iran last month, with the precious cargo rotting in the 40-degree heat.
Even where trading has continued via sea to the key Middle East market, which accounts for 70 percent of exports, demand has obviously shrunk. Since the virus took hold shoppers are making fewer outings to supermarkets and are wary of spending on luxury items, while Pakistani migrant workers who enjoy the flavour of the fruit have returned home. In one hot spot, harvests were at least spared the ravages of the worst locust plague in 25 years, which wiped out most of vegetable and cotton harvests. As flights resume and border restrictions are eased, we sincerely hope that Pakistan would soon increase exports in the second half of the season to avoid a complete lost season. Someone once advised China to increase mango imports from Pakistan. This idea is indeed constructive. But in recent years, China’s demand for Pakistani mangoes has been dwindling. China’s Hainan Province has been able to produce mangoes of the same quality as Pakistan. Due to China’s advantages in logistics and transportation, these mangoes can reach Beijing smoothly by high speed railway and safely in only 9 hours of train transportation.
