Australia Accepts Two More Mango Facilities for Export

According to latest statistics, approximately 12% (7000 tonnes) of the Australian crop is exported on an annual basis. Australia’s key export markets include Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The industry undertakes marketing in many of these countries to encourage demand of Australian mangoes. Currently, Australia is negotiating access for fresh Australian mangoes to a number of other key markets.

Approximately 88% of the Australian crop is consumed domestically. Of this, 85% is marketed through the ‘fresh’ supply chain and the remainder is utilised by the processing sector. Two mango treatment facilities in Sindh — Mustafa Agriculture Farm, Kotri, and Iftekhar Ahmed & Co, New Sabzi Mandi, Karachi — have been approved by Australian authorities for export of mangoes from Pakistan by the Australian Department of Water, Agriculture and Environment.

Up until now, only two facilities — Horti Fresh and Paras Foods — were approved for import into Australia. Pakistan had filed the request for approval of three more facilities around five years ago. After concerted efforts during last year, “we were able to get two facilities approved,” he said. “We hope to have one more approved in the coming weeks.”

Currently, The Australian mango industry produces 50,000 tonnes of fresh mangoes each season. Currently, between 4,000 tonnes and 5,000 tonnes are exported. Fresh mangoes are exported to a wide range of countries throughout the world. The top 4 export destinations account for 80% of exports.

Export target

Meanwhile, All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) has fixed mango export target at 150,000 tonnes for the current season which will likely fetch $127.5 million in foreign exchange. Last year, the export target was set at 80,000 tonnes due to Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent logistics challenges.

Special mango flights

As mango exports are set to start from Wednesday, exporters have demanded the PIA management to arrange special cargo flights for shipping their consignments to the European Union and North America so that their export targets are met easily.