Pakistani pine nuts not only enjoy a high price premium in China but at present, China has become one of the main export destinations for Pakistani pine nuts.
According to the Agriculture Marketing Information Service (AMIS), in FY 2018-2019 (July 2018-June 2019, a good year) and FY 2019-2020 (a small year), Pakistan exported 692 tons and 73.9 tons of pine nuts to China respectively, worth 820 million and 190 million rupees, accounting for 45.86 percent and 14 percent of the total export volume.
“Compared with other main varieties in the Chinese market, including Siberian and Korean pine, Pakistani pine nuts have a huge variety advantage. With a thinner skin and plumper flesh, it has low fat content and rich nutrients. Beyond that, the kernel rate of Pakistani pine nuts can reach 80 percent, while that of red pine nuts from northeast China is about 40 percent, only half of the Pakistani type.” Xin Mindong, Manager of Zhicheng Food Co., Ltd., Meihekou City, Jilin, who has been trading Pakistani pine nuts for more than 15 years, told China Economic Net.
“For us, due to the impact of the epidemic in the past two years, land routes have been partially blocked, and sea transport may take as long as 40 days, which is not conducive to the storage of pine nuts. Besides, the market price of pine nuts fluctuates continually.
In contrast, expensive air transport is our best choice now. So far, flights have been cut because of the epidemic, the air freight per ton of pine nuts is about RMB 37,000, which has invisibly increased the cost,” he added.
Pakistan pine nuts are generally shipped from Karachi Port to Ningbo Port, Zhejiang. The transportation price is about Rmb 17,000 per ton, which is much cheaper than air freight, Xin added.
“But in addition to time, we also need to consider the wastage. With thinner skins, Pakistani pine nuts are easily broken or damaged during handling. In addition, we have to process it in advance to remove moisture. Otherwise, the pine nuts in the container will become moldy and deteriorate. We have established a plant in Pakistan. After preliminary dehydration processing locally, mildewed and relatively poor-quality pine nuts are removed for easier transportation,” he said.—APP
