The total value of Peru’s asparagus exports from January to November 2010 reached US $375.4 million, an increase of 8.5%, although the total volume dropped 1.2% to 163,700 metric tons (MT), according to Peruvian export consultancy Maximize.

The increase in value comes from the increase in fresh asparagus exports, which grew 16.6% to reach US $256.4 million. Frozen asparagus also posted an increase of 23%, to reach US$27.6 million. However the conserved format of the product dropped 11.6%.

Traditional destinations for asparagus saw considerable drops in volume. Shipments to the U.S. dropped 22.8%, the Netherlands decreased 32.4% and Chile was down 20.5%. However the U.S., Netherlands and Spain still accounted for 76.5% of the total value of shipments.

As for exporters, Camposol had a largest share of shipments with a 10.9% share followed by Damper Trujillo (8.5%), Sociedad Agricola Viru (7.4%) and Complejo Agroindustrial Beta (6.8%).

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com