Almost 7,400 tons of mangoes (worth close to US9.0 million) have been exported by Pakistani traders to Saudi Arabia in 2020. This is almost twice the volume exported in 2019. This achievement –a new record, was achieved amid COVID-19 pandemic in the kingdom.
“The volume of mangoes shipping from Pakistan to KSA –which has exponentially increased, still continues”, says a report.
Pakistan’s Consul General in Jeddah Khalid Majid revealed that in 2019, the country was just able to export 3,830 tons of mangoes (worth US$5.30 million).
At a mango cake cutting and tasting ceremony hosted by him at his residence in Jeddah, he said, “Pakistan is the second largest mango exporter to Saudi Arabia.”
1.75 million tons of mangoes are produced by Pakistan every year. This makes Pakistan the 6th biggest producer of the king of fruits in the world.
During the current season, Pakistan exceeded the total mango export by a significant margin. The country was able to ship 125,000 tons of mangoes to foreign lands (53 countries) despite the challenge at hand due to the pandemic.
In Pakistan, the mango season begins in May and continues until the end of October. But due to the pandemic and closure of flights, the mangoes were exported to Saudi Arabia from June 2020.
A Pakistani expatriate living in Jeddah said, “People from different countries seem to rush to buy Pakistani mangoes when they reach the market. Mangoes disappear pretty soon from shops, which means our exporters should increase supply by as much as they can.”
Al-Bilad Daily English Online with additional input