China Tomato Export and Production in 2016

Production

China had about 109,866 hectares of tomato fields in 2016, which has increased 2.7% year-on-year. There are two reasons for the continuous growth of the tomato acreage. First, farmers' enthusiasm for planting was improved. Since July 2015, the tomato market price has risen sharply, every income per hectare of peasant household reaches more than 149,989 Yuan ($21,820), and this high yield promotes the increase of planting area. Secondly, the government's subsidy policy for greenhouses has encouraged the growth of greenhouse planting area in the north of China. In 2016, affected by low temperature, a cold snap, haze and other factors, the tomato yield declined slightly, about 5.17 tons per hectare, down 1.1% on the year, but total output has increased by 1.6%, reaching 56.8 million tons. In 2017, tomato planting area is estimated to be about 111,333 hectares, down by 1.3% year-on-year. Barring any major natural disasters this year, the unit yield is expected to return to 5.25 tons per hectaree, and total output should reach 56.95 million tons, an increase of 0.2% year-on-year. Planted area is expected to be reduced slightly, mainly because of the unsalable phenomenon appears in some regions tomato in 2016, which has directly influenced the enthusiams of tomato farmers.

Trade

Tomato is one of China's most important agricultural exports, and the average annual export volume of tomato sauce accounts for 1/3 of the amount of world trade. The main destinations of exports are concentrated in Russia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and other neighboring countries. In 2016, there were two main reasons for the decrease in export growth rate in China. First, the tomato production and processing cost rose. Second, expansion of production scale of tomato processing enterprises caused a production capacity surplus. Third, the stringent technology trade barrier lead to increased difficulty in exporting. Accumulative total tomato export volume was 1.18 million tons in 2016, increased 0.2% year-on-year, and export amount was 880 million dollars, down 12.7%. The tomato product export volume was 860,000 tons, down 1.0% year-on-year, and the export amount was 700 million dollars, down 17.8% year-on-year. In 2017, Tomato total exports are expected to reach about 1.20 million tons, an increase of 0.8%. However, exports of processed tomato products will continue to decline. Especially in recent years, some countries have restricted the entry of Chinese tomato products by improving the technical barriers to trade.