Philippines still world’s No. 2 pineapple exporter

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The Philippines remained as the world’s second-largest pineapple exporter in the previous year on account of increased shipments to major markets.

In its latest major tropical fruits market review, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said the Philippines delivered around 680,000 metric tons (MT) of pineapple in 2024. This mean an increase of 14.1 percent.

The report said the Philippines supplied more pineapples to key import markets, namely China, Japan and South Korea.

Pineapple shipments to China, the country’s top export destination, climbed by 9.4 percent. The Philippines cornered a 40-percent market share in China. Japan came next with 33 percent and South Korea with 16 percent.

“Shipments of [Philippine]pineapples to both destinations expanded substantially from the previous year, by a reported 20 percent to Japan and 28 percent to the Republic of Korea,” the FAO said.

The United Nations agency also noted that the MD2 variety is the sought-after pineapple variety from the Philippines.

19% of global cargos

The FAO said the average export unit value of shipments from the Philippines to world markets rose by 6.3 percent to $630 per MT.

The Philippines accounted for 19 percent of global pineapple shipments in 2024. Costa Rica topped the list with a 68-percent share.

Greater supplies from the Top 2 exporters boosted global pineapple traffic, growing by 5.2 percent to 3.6 million MT last year.

“According to industry information, weather conditions in key Costa Rican growing areas started off with hotter and drier weather than normal at the beginning of the year,” the report read.

This affected fruit flowering and caused concern about production quantities, but subsequently improved significantly, it added.

Meanwhile, the FAO said global pineapple imports rose by 4.8 percent to 3.1 million MT.

Citing industry sources, the report said demand in the United States and the European Union remained strong over the past year. In these markets, a significant volume of pineapples is consumed outside of the home.

China’s pineapple imports registered an increase because of the continued rise in consumer demand for high-quality fresh pineapples. INQ