Chile expects farm exports to rise by 15% this season thanks to a strong cherry showing and continued good weather.

In a December 12 interview, the Minister of Agriculture Esteban Valenzuela forecast 2024-25 fruit exports to touch US$7 billion.

Cherries will certainly contribute a big chunk of this turnover given that in 2023 their exports generated $2.346 billion.

The  2024-25 season is already poised to increase the shipments to 112 million 11-pound boxes, 18 million boxes above 2023’s.

According to Valenzuela, the crop’s cultivation is growing exponentially, attracting even its biggest buyer, China into local farming.

China has been leasing land in the Andes country to increase its grip on a fruit with huge demand back home.

Airline Favors

The Chinese interest extends outside land leasing, for the country has begun airline freight services to ferry cherries to the Far-east.

China Eastern Airlines kick-started the 2024-25 cherry season on November 18, 2024 by shipping 76,000 kg of cherries from Santiago to Shanghai.

According to the International Trade Council, this gesture marks China’s bid to enhance access to its vast market. In 2023, this market accounted for US$5.4 billion worth of Chile’s agricultural exports, 50% of which cherries worth US$2.22 billion.

Given Chile’s improving weather, this airline partnership comes handy in case of a production boom of the highly perishable fruit.

From Record Drought to Good Weather

Following a record ten-year drought between 2010 and 2021, weather normalization has brought relief for grape and cherry growers.

Despite continued dryness in southern ranches, the cherry-growing belt in central Chile has seen rains in the past 36 months. 

Chile has invested heavily in the irrigation of the tree crop since the end of the lengthy drought around 2021. The country has also upped the cultivated area and increased fresh fruit processing plants.

This weather providence has spilled over to the entire agriculture sector, whose revenue could rise to US$20 billion this season.

It is for these reasons that the agriculture minister projects a fifteen-percent growth for the agricultural sector. And since much of this growth owes to exports, which in turn owe much to cherries, below are cherry export statistics.

Chile Cherry Export Statistics

With an annual production of 443,660 tonnes (2022) according to FAOSTAT, Chile is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of cherries. Almost all of Chile’s cherries (99%) are the sweet variety and 92% of the total exports reach the Chinese market. Doubling as importers and exporters, China and Hong Kong are the only rivals to Chile’s shipment lead. In 2019, for instance, the two exported $764.7 million in cherries, the second highest globally after Chile’s $1.61 billion. According to the 2024 Chile’s ambassador to China, Mauricio Hurtado, cherries have become the second most important export after copper ore. 

How much cherries does Chile export to China? 

According to China Daily, 92% of Chile’s total cherry exports landed in China in the 2023-24 season. This was up from 88% in the 2022-23 season. In quantity, this is equivalent to 365,968 tonnes for the 2023-24 market year and 362,607 tonnes for the 2022-23 period. 

Is Chile’s cherry export value experiencing growth? 

The export value of the tree crop has almost doubled in the five years between 2019 and 2023. While 2019 generated $1.61 billion, 2023 brought around $2.35 billion, according to Agencia Agraria News Peru.