The Australian Horticultural Exporters' Association (AHEA) believes exports will rise over the coming five years, despite a recent government report that forecasts shipments will drop significantly in 2014-15.

AHEA executive director Michelle Christoe told www.freshfruitportal.com the increase would be driven by economic growth and a growing middle class in Asia, although this could be offset to an extent by imports rising at a faster rate.

"Australia also recently obtained access for grapes, one of our largest exports, to Japan and Korea," Christoe said in a written statement.

"Even this season with limited time available, table grape exporters shipped 25 containers of grapes to Japan worth AUD$1.2 million (US$1.13 million), our first fresh grapes ever to this market.

"We also have the effects of the FTAs with Japan and Korea which are expected to be in force in 2015, which will benefit fresh fruit and vegetable exports."

Christoe said AHEA had not yet received a response from ABARES to substantiate the forecast decline in exports for 2014-15, but clarified the bureau had also reported that exports would rise over the next five years.

In terms of challenges, she mentioned the strong Aussie dollar and high production costs continued to put pressure on the local horticulture sector.

"The AHEA are working at reducing costs for the Australian horticulture industry by working with the Department of Agriculture on reducing costs and removing trade barriers that inhibit trade," she said.

This includes reducing turnaround times for processing phytosanitary certificates and extending administration hours to better meet customers' needs overseas.

"Although Australian produce has a superior taste and close proximity to Asia, competitiveness of export industries in global markets has been reduced as a result of these high costs and competing nations increasing their export standards," she said.

"However, the reality is, the world’s population is projecting to reach around 9.3 billion by 2025.  As the world economy shifts from the rural regions to high income city dwelling, millions of people are likely to move out of poverty and the middle class is predicted to grow.

"The expected increase in global food demand will influence agricultural prices. Prices however are difficult to predict and it’s the tonnage we need to monitor. Prices are affected by factors such as resource constraints, weather, water availability, currency, transportation, investment levels and government policies on trade and competition."

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