South America Too Big To Ignore

摘要

Seven years ago it appeared that South America might emerge as another growth market like South Korea or Taiwan for Canadian food and beverage manufacturers but instead it has turned into another major competitor like Australia. Our $1.9 billion in two-way trade in bulk, intermediate and consumer-oriented agri-foods went from a rough parity in 1998 to a trade deficit of over $800 million in 2003 as financial crises knocked two thirds of the value off the Brazilian and Argentine currencies. Our exports plummeted, our imports soared and our trade shifted. Our exports of processed foods and beverages dropped almost 80 per cent while those of our agri-food commodities, such as wheat, fell by only half as much. In 1997 the value of our food and beverage exports to South America totalled $145 million, tying the continent with Taiwan as our seventh largest export market. By 2003 our food and beverage exports to 10 place Denmark were three times greater than our exports to all of South America.