ELSENBURG JOURNAL

The European Union is the major importer of South African plums (69% of the total exports in 2021). Over the past five years the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates were the top three countries importing plum fruit from South Africa, with a total volume share of 75%. In 2021, the Netherlands imported about 45% of South Africa’s plums in volume terms (see Figure 3) and this indicates a five-year growth of 8.79%. South Africa is a counter-seasonal supplier of plums to these countries (CBI, 2021). Figure 3 shows the top 10 importers of South Africa’s plums in 2021.

The South African plum industry has grown significantly in response to the ever-increasing domestic and international demand for plums. Of the total 101 969 tons of plum fruit produced, 21 169 (20%) tons are for domestic markets and 81 958 (80%) tons are exported. When we are looking at the growth rate of 5 years (from 2016 to 2021), both the domestic market (fresh plums) and international exports grew by 2.2% and 6.5%, respectively. In the case of the domestic processing industry, there was a growth of 9.87%. The amount of plums distributed to processing grew by 52% in 2019 and 2020 season as a result of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on the movement of goods. In 2021, the share to the processing plum industry declined to 858 tons (-74% than the previous year).

The competitive performance of the SA plum industry

To measure the competitive performance of the South Africa’s plum industry, a Relative Trade index (RTA) was employed. The RTA measures competitiveness under real-world conditions, such as uneven economic playing fields, distorted economies and varying trade regimes. A positive RTA value shows that the product is competitive, whilst a negative RTA shows lack of competitiveness and 0 shows marginal competitiveness.

South Africa’s plums have been highly competitive at the international market stage from 2010 to 2021 as represented in the Figure 4. The South African plum industry recorded the highest RTA value of 25.47 in 2014 and has been declining ever since reaching 12.35 in 2020 before bouncing back to 18.62 in 2021.The quality of South Africa’s plum fruit, and the weakening of the Rand against other currencies have been the major contributors to the positive performance of the plum industry.

Concluding remarks and recommendations

There has been an expansion in global plum production due to increasing demand. Chile, Spain and South Africa were the top exporters in 2021. Globally China has remained as the top producer of plums over the past five years. Climatic and weather conditions negatively impacted the global plum industry, including of South Africa, where major areas of production were facing droughts and heatwaves. The Netherlands (45%), United Kingdom (18%) and United Arab Emirates (12%) remained the major importers of plums from South

Africa. More than 60% of the plums were imported by the European Union. This carries a risk and suggests a need for new markets and improving access to those markets. The plum industry is important in the South African economy both in terms of foreign earnings through exports, employment creation and investments. AP

Learn more!

South Africa’s most planted plum cultivars are Angeleno, Laetitia, Ruby Sun, African delight, Fortune, Ruby Star and Songold (Hortgro, 2021). Scan the QR code or visit https://bit.ly/3q8EZcb to read more about it.