Apples from mainland set to tickle US palates soon

At the cleaning line of Dalian Tianli Agriculture Developing Co, on any given day one can see workers busy using high-pressure air guns to remove dust from the apples ready to be shipped to the United States. The company along with 11 others are fervently hoping that the finishing touches would ensure sustained export orders from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

The current opportunity came about after the US Department of Agriculture officially permitted Chinese agribusiness firms to export apples to the US market on May 26. Since then, the first batch of 12 Chinese companies from Liaoning, Shanxi and Shandong provinces have gained the necessary approval from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Located in Dalian of Northeast China's Liaoning province, Dalian Tianli plans to ship 41.3 metric tons of Red Fuji apples to the US markets. The shipment is expected to reach the US ports on June 26, making the reentry of Chinese apples in the US markets after 17 years. The reentry is significant as China, the world's biggest apple producer, now has market access to the world's largest economy.

Liu Baoyang, general manager of Dalian Tianli, said the apples will be packed into an 18kilogram box, and sold for $32 a box in the US. The export profit rate is 30 percent higher than the domestic market, he said, adding that the company plans to ship 4,000 metric tons of apples next year.

After Dalian apples obtained export licenses from the European Union in 2005, Canada in 2011 and Australia in 2014, Dalian Tianli has sold 20,000 tons of apples to global markets, accounting for 60 percent of its total sales.

(China Daily USA 06/11/2015 page1)