Global Market Update: Kiwi

Published 2020년 3월 18일

The start of the 2020 season for the kiwifruit season is predicted to be fruitful, with countries such as New Zealand maximizing their production volume to meet the increasing global demand. In 2018, the global market revenue for kiwifruit reached USD 7.6 Billion and it is expected to grow even more countries join the kiwifruit market.

The 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for kiwifruit is 081050.

Kiwifruit Prices Fairly Stable

New Zealand had experienced extreme price jumps in December due to shortages in supply with a record-breaking price of USD 8.27 per kg, double the amount from the previous year. After this spike, prices have slowly decreased, with an average price per kg of USD 7.87 in March. However, this might change as the impact of the bad weather and coronavirus (COVID-19) are factored in. Italy’s kiwifruit prices are also stable, at USD 1.38 per kg as of March 16, 2020.

Production Sees Massive Growth

The global production volume has been steadily increasing for the past 10 years. The top producing countries for kiwis in 2018 were:

China (2.0 million tons)
Italy (562.1 K tons)
New Zealand (414.3 K tons)
Iran (266.3 K tons)
Greece (265.3 K tons)

Kiwi production volume increased by around 72% from 2.5 million tons in 2007 to 4.3 million tons in 2016. Kiwi production has shown steady, consistent growth over the last decade.

Supply and Demand

The demand for kiwis has been centralized within Asia, with China making up 51% (2.3 million tonnes) of the global kiwi consumption, followed by Italy with 314K tonnes, and Iran with 248K tonnes. Kiwi producing countries across the world, such as New Zealand, are increasing their supply to match the growing demand. New Zealand is set to produce 155 million trays of kiwifruit this season, compared to 147 million trays in the previous year.

Export

The global kiwi export value in 2018 was 3.1 billion USD and the exported quantity was 1.6 million tons. The top exporting countries are:

New Zealand (1.5 billion USD, 48.4%)
Italy (518.0 million USD, 16.7%)
Belgium (299.8 million USD, 9.7%)
Chile (205.2 million USD, 6.6%)
Greece (145.6 million USD, 4.7%)

From 2017 to 2018, export values for New Zealand and Greece increased by 30% and 11%, respectively. From 2017 to 2018, export values for Italy and Belgium decreased by 2% and 9%, respectively, and Chile’s export value remained constant.

As shown in the graph above, besides some variations during 2011-13 and 2014-15, the global export value for kiwi has been increasing for the last 10 years.

Import

The global kiwi import value in 2018 was 3.2 billion USD and the imported quantity was 1.6 million tons. The top importing countries are:

China (411.3 million USD, 12.9%)
Japan (370.0 million USD, 11.6%)
Belgium (282.3 million USD, 8.8%)
Germany (237.2 million USD, 7.4%)
Spain (227.3 million USD, 7.1%)

From 2017 to 2018, import values for China, Japan, Belgium, and Germany increased by 13%, 18%, 12%, and 4%, respectively. In the same period, the import value for Spain decreased by 9%.

Over the last 10 years, the import value has had a similar trend as export value.

Trends

New Zealand and Chile Prep for the 2020 Kiwifruit Season

Following the strong 2017/18 season, with record-breaking export earnings of USD 1.2 billion, New Zealand is preparing to continue this streak. The country has already set the goal of achieving 260 million trays in kiwifruit production by 2025, a huge step forward from 139 million trays in 2017/18. The trademarked SunGold kiwifruit variety remains the most popular, ahead of its counterpart, the green variety. This is largely due to Zespri, New Zealand’s main kiwifruit producer, increasing the release of SunGold licenses to growers, which boosts overall production.

China remains on the top in terms of production, but since most of it goes to domestic consumption, New Zealand will still lead the export market. In addition, Zespri already has several partnerships with European countries under its belt, such as Italy and France, which aligns with their strategy to provide kiwifruits even when New Zealand’s is not in season. And it is looking to expand its presence in Asia the same way by establishing more orchards in Japan and South Korea. With these partnerships in place, this could potentially help New Zealand in the long run, especially as it is working on a free trade agreement with the European Union.

Amidst these high expectations, there are challenges on the horizon as this season is set to begin. From the latest breakout of the coronavirus, labor shortages are a top concern as most of the workers are from overseas. Increased travel restrictions would limit entries as well as slow down processing times. Furthermore, kiwis require a sufficient amount of rain, but the recent dry spells could negatively impact harvest. With the virus as well as the prolonged drought, storage will be scarce as it becomes difficult to ship products, and price fluctuations are to be expected if kiwifruit exports are delayed.

Along with New Zealand, Chile, the other large kiwi exporter, is set to kick off the kiwifruit season as well. Compared to New Zealand, most of Chile’s kiwifruit production is of the green variety, comprising approximately 94% of total exports in 2019. Last season, around 41% of its exports were destined for the European market, while Latin America followed close behind, accounting for 21%. Export volumes have staggered last season, with approximately 177K tons in exports compared to 181K tons in the previous year due to droughts. Chilean growers have low hopes for this season due to the drought as well as the onset of the coronavirus. According to the Chilean Kiwi Committee, only 150K tons of kiwifruit are expected to be produced this season.

Red Kiwis Enter Commercial Market

Red kiwis have been under development for a while, but are now heading to stores after Zespri saw success in its limited release in New Zealand. This year, Zespri has extended 150 hectares of land under the Red variety license. As the kiwifruit still remains a minor player compared to other fruits such as bananas and apples, and the development of new varieties will make it a stronger contender among other fruits. The new Red variety will only be available in New Zealand as well as select parts of Asia, but it is soon expected to hit other markets worldwide.