THE GLOBAL PINEAPPLE ECONOMY FAO KEYNOTE ADDRESS

First allow me thank the organisers of the Third International Symposium on Pineapple for inviting the participation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
It is a privilege and honour indeed for me to deliver this keynote address the pineapple market on behalf of the Director – General of FAO.

Today I have been asked to give a presentation of the world pineapple economy.
However, to put things in perspective, I would firstly like to give you a global overview of the production and trade of tropical fruits and the context into which pineapple fits.

World production of tropical fruits, excluding bananas, is currently about 56 million tonnes, most of which are absorbed domestically in the producing countries, either in fresh or processed forms.
Mangoes make up the bulk of this total, accounting for 40 percent, followed by pineapples at just under 25 percent.
Other major fruits individually account for less than 10 percent of the total.
In terms of world trade, currently valued at over US$ 2 billion, tropical fruits are available all – year round in importing countries because of the different growing and harvesting cycles in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In general, each market tends to import from its closest regional supplier due to lower transportation cost and shorter duration from harvesting to retail distribution.
Thus, North American markets are typically supplied by Latin America, European markets by Africa and, to a lesser extent, by Latin America (mostly to take advantage of space availability at competitive freight rates for banana shipments to Europe), while trade in the Far East is mainly intra – regional.

World production of pineapples currently stands at about 12.6 million tonnes, of which a third is utilised for processing and the balanced consumed fresh.
Thailand is the largest producer, accounting for 16 percent of global output, followed by the Philippines (12 percent) and Brazil (10 percent). Other major producing countries include India (7 percent), Nigeria (6 percent), Indonesia (4 percent), followed by Colombia (3 percent), and the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Kenya and Cote d’Ivore all at 2 percent each.
Although Australia, Malaysia, South Africa and Venezuela produce considerably less, they are also considered significant producers.

Pineapple is the most widely traded tropical fruits, and mostly in processed form.
Although only a third of its output is utilised for processing, pineapple products account for more than two thirds of the trade in pineapples, by value.
In 1996 for example, pineapple export earnings (fresh and processed) were US$ 1.65 billion, of which US$ 1.17 billion were from processed pineapples and US$ 478.9 million from fresh.
However, export growth rates of processed products, particularly concentrates, which increased by 10 percent annually during the 1980s, declined slightly in the 1990s.
Import demand growth rates for lower volume and value products remained unchanged or increased only slightly; single-strength juice remained at 9.2 percent, and canned pineapples increased by 1 percent annually to 4.1 percent.
The latest trade data available are for 1996 and indicate Thailand as the largest exporter of processed pineapples followed by the Philippines, China Province of Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, Australia and South Africa.

Global demand for fresh pineapples has grown significantly in the 1990s due to a combination of increased distribution networks through supermarkets and increasing consumer awareness.
The growth in import demand averaged 11.6 percent annually during the 990s, up from 4.7 percent during the 1980s.
In 1996, global trade in fresh