APIP Agricultural Policy Implementation Project

2. WORLD TRADE IN CUT FLOWERS AND THE EUROPEAN NARKET
2.1 The World Market for Cut Flowers
International floricultural trade has dramatically increased over the last
10 years. World imports of cut flower imports rose from US$1 18 billion in 1981
and US$1.3 billion in 1985, to US$2.47 billion in 1988. The market for
imported cut flowers is expected to remain strong over the next several years,
as demand continues to rise in the principal markets for cut flowers, namely
Western Europe, North America, and Japan, while local production declines.
Germany, for example, relies increasingly on imported flowers to meet
domestic demand, now importing as much as 75 percent of its cut flowers. The
demand for cut flower imports in France and Germany, as well as in the United
Kingdom, Switzerland, Holland, Japan, and the United States, will likely continue
to rise. Oil-exporting nations which have also increased fresh cut flower
imports during the last decade, appear to be a good future market. The most
important exporters of cut flowers are the Netherlands and Colombia, foilowed by
Israel and Italy, These four countries account for about 90 percent of the
market. Countries such as Spain, Kenya, Costa Rica, the Canary Islands, and
Morocco are also important exporters of fresh cut flowers, accounting for much
of the remaining 10 percent.
2.1.1 Important Exporters of Cut Flowers
The major exporting countries are shown in Exhibit 2.1. The Netherlands
is clearly the leading exporter of cut flowers and potted plants in the world,
holding 68 percent of the world cut flower and potted plant market share in 1989.
Colombia is a distant second with 10 percent of the export market in 1989, a
slight increase from the 1988 level of 9.2 percent but declining from a 13
percent market share in 1985. Israel and Italy lost market share declining from
8 and 7 percent in 1985 to 6 and 5 percent in 1989.
While the Netherlands produces the majority of the flowers it exports, it
also imports flowers from a large number of exporters around the world and reexports
them. In 1988, for example, the Netherlands imported $130.0 million
worth of cut flowers, which is less than 10 percent of total exports of $1.53
billion, but if re-exported would still represent a significant percentage of
world exports ° . The Netherlands is the major supplier of traded cut flowers
Doyle C. Johnson, USDA, ERS, Floriculture and Environmental Horticulture
Products, Statistical Bulletin Number 817, September 1990.
7 Le march6 des fleurs, p. 11.
8 Ibid., p.10.
9 Floriculture and Environmental Horticulture, pp. 219-222.
10 No data available on re-exports
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