Affected by the pandemic control in 2022, tomato production in Xinjiang, one of the main tomato-producing areas in China, decreased by about 20%, and the price of raw materials for ketchup increased accordingly. In addition, the energy crisis in Europe has led to an increase in local cultivation costs.
Recently, the export price of tomato sauce has soared, and the product is in short supply. Shandong Shangzhuo Co., Ltd. is a tomato sauce processing exporter in Shandong. The company purchases tomato raw materials from the main tomato-producing areas in China, and then processes and exports products. Manager Wang, the sales manager of Jining Shangzhuo Food Co., Ltd., recently introduced the origin and export of ketchup to FreshPlaza.
China's raw ketchup mainly comes from Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. Last season's tomato harvest began in August 2022 and ended in September. The production time of raw materials for ketchup is only about 50 days. However, affected by the pandemic control in 2022, the tomato production area in Xinjiang decreased by about 20%. So the price of raw sauce is very expensive. Small packages are also expensive.
"The Middle East and Africa are our main export areas, with an annual export volume of about 300 containers. About half of our products are exported through domestic trading companies, while the other 50% are sold directly to our local customers. " Wang said.
The tomato sauce exported by Jining Shangzhuo Food Co., Ltd. has two concentrations, 28%-30% and 36%-38%. "The Middle East and African markets consume a lot of ketchup. Apart from China, these markets are also importing from the United States, Italy and other markets. The competitive advantage of ketchup from China lies in its lower price.
"Since the outbreak of the pandemic, due to the high cost of tomato cultivation in China, the price of raw materials for large barrels of tomato sauce has risen sharply recently. The price advantage is not as obvious as before. " Wang said, "But on the other hand, affected by the energy crisis in Europe, the cost of tomato production in Europe has been very high since last year. This has promoted the market demand for ketchup to a certain extent."