The cost price of tomato production in Chinese production areas has been on the rise since the outbreak of Covid-19, and that also pushed up the export price of tomato paste. However, exporters of Chinese tomato paste saw their order volume rise, rather than fall, because of the heatwave in Europe this summer and the rising price of energy.
Shandong Shangzhuo Co., Ltd. is a Shandong-based tomato paste exporter. The company buys Chinese tomatoes in the domestic market, and then processes them into tomato paste for the export market. Mr. Wang is a sales manager at Shandong Shangzhuo and a company spokesperson. He recently talked about current export conditions for Chinese tomato paste.
The open-field tomatoes used in the tomato paste industry are harvested from the beginning of August until the end of December. "High temperatures in Chinese tomato production areas had a negative impact on the overall production volume, which significantly declined as a result. Tomato processing factories are generally located in production areas. In previous years the factories were able to purchase additional supply from outside to make up for any decline in the domestic production volume. However, the pandemic makes that almost impossible. This year the factories only used local supply, which greatly reduced the volume of tomato paste this year."
"As for the price, the current FOB price of 36-38% tomato paste from Tianjin to Rotterdam is around 1,150 USD, which is several hundred dollars more than in previous years. Trade companies have begun to hoard products in anticipation of even higher prices," said manager Wang. "We expect another shortage in February 2023, which will push the price up again!"
According to manager Wang, the rising price has no impact on the export volume. "There are several reasons for this development. First, the heatwave in Europe reduced the tomato production volume there as well. Second, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is still driving the energy prices higher, which raises the cost price of production. Third, local transport costs are affected by rising energy costs too. All of these reasons stimulate overseas demand for Chinese tomato paste. We have received inquiries from many new clients in the last few weeks. Our order volume has grown too."
Jining Shangzhuo Food supplies a variety of tomato paste products, including 220L buckets of 28-30% hot break tomato paste, 30-32% hot break tomato paste, and 36-36% cold break tomato paste.
For more information:
Mr. Wang - Sales manager
Jining Shangzhuo Food Co., Ltd.
WhatsApp: +8613213293300
Website: www.shangzhuofood.com
E-mail: wangjunjie@shangzhuofood.com