Egypt became the largest exporter of fresh strawberries to the Malaysian market in MY 2021/22 (July-June) and continued to increase shipments in the current MY 2022/23, according to EastFruit. Furthermore, Egyptian exporters kept improving their position in the whole market of the South-East Asia, and Egypt ranked fifth among the largest exporters to the region.
In the whole MY 2021/22, Egypt exported above 740 tons of fresh strawberries to Malaysia, almost two and a half times as high as five years ago. Moreover, the country had become the largest supplier of those berries to the Malaysian market since the MY 2020/21 and exported record high 1,000 tons of fresh strawberries to Malaysia in the first eight months of the current MY.
Surprisingly, Egypt has almost no competitors in the Malaysian market during the peak of its shipments (December-March). Australia, the second largest exporter of fresh strawberries to Malaysia, exports its berries mostly in August-November. Thus, only South Korea (peak of exports in December-April) can be considered Egypt’s competitor in Malaysia, but South Korean exporters shipped just 350 tons of fresh strawberries to the Malaysian market in the MY 2021/22, half of Egypt’s volumes.
As regards the market for imported fresh strawberries in the whole South-East Asia (excl. Vietnam), the region usually imports about 16,000 tons of those berries during a MY. Nevertheless, total imports are stable, and EastFruit suggests paying attention at just certain representatives of the region.
Hong Kong, the leading importer of fresh strawberries in the South-East Asia, has reduced its imports by almost a quarter over the past five MYs (from 7,600 tons to 5,800 tons), while Singapore, the second largest buyer, raised the import volumes just by 3% to 3,600 tons. The same trend is observed in Thailand (+2% to 1,800 tons) and Taiwan (+3% to 970 tons).
Meanwhile, Malaysia is not just the third largest importer of fresh strawberries in the South-East Asia, but has also increased imports by 65% over the past five MYs (from 1,600 tons to 2,600 tons), with no other country from the region able to show similar indicators.
Only Macao (+138%) and Cambodia (+310%) had been increasing fresh strawberry imports faster than Malaysia, but their import volumes were much lower: 460 tons and 160 tons, respectively, in the MY 2021/22. Indonesia, another representative of the South-East Asia, has managed to increase imports by a quarter to 190 tons over the past five MYs.
As regards the supplying geography, only exporters from the USA are present in the South-East Asia all year round, with the peak of exports observed in April-November. In August-October, it is Australia that exports the most, while South Korea, Japan and Egypt are especially active in December-March. The five countries also account for up to 90% of the total imports of fresh strawberries in the South-East Asia each MY.
