Tomato processing in China

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2011. The main area for tomato cultivation is the Xinjiang region, in the northwest, where the industry's leading companies like TunHe and Chalkis operate major factories. This region is composed of high plateaus (approximately 1 000 meters in altitude) that enjoy a dry continental climate, with little rain in summer, long daylight hours, and general conditions that are ideal for growing tomatoes. Furthermore, the Chinese government has pushed for a strong development of the country's western regions in recent years. The economic evolution of Xinjiang is similar to that of the entire western zone in that it depends on large-scale agriculture. This provides processors that are already established in the region with many opportunities, particularly those whose diversification is linked to activities that tie in with agriculture in a variety of ways. But Xinjiang is not only the largest region to produce processing tomatoes, it is also the largest region to produce cotton (over 30% of the total Chinese output). In northern Xinjiang, cotton and corn are the most competitive crops. In 2010, the profit from planting cotton experienced a sharp rise, and the income of corn and wheat also steadily increased, while income from tomato growing experienced a notable decrease. The second largest production region is situated in Inner Mongolia. This province has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years and accounts for 15 to 20% of the total volume processed in China. However, the acreage of sunflower and corn has increased in this region, shrinking the tomato growing surfaces over the past few years. The third region is located in the Gansu province and accounts for about 5 to 10% of the total Chinese production of tomato paste. Recent years have also seen some developments in the Ningxia region. The first factories were set up between 1983 and 1985. The Chinese processing capacity reached 50 000 metric tonnes in 1995, and it is generally considered that the annual development rate did not run below 25 % from 1995 to 2004, but slowed down in recent years. To date, the main production capacity of the Chinese tomato processing industry is shared between COFCO TunHe and Chalkis (a subsidiary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Group, also the owner of Tianje). The current capacity of Chalkis amounts to approximately 270 000 tonnes of paste whereas the TunHe group has a potential capacity of 335 000 tonnes. The third and fourth Chinese processors respectively are the Haohan Group (with an annual capacity of 150 000 tonnes) and the Guan Nong Group (55 000 tonnes). In 2011, the total surface planted with tomatoes in China amounted to 94 899 ha. The most commonly used varieties are local (80%), half of which are fixed varieties (Open Pollinated), 30% are hybrids and 20% are Heinz hybrids. Sowing is carried out in greenhouses around March 10 th with planting out starting after the last frosts around May 15 th . Depending on the region, the season gets under way between July 20 th and the beginning of August. It lasts about 60 days, until the beginning of October. An increasing proportion of the crop (about 50%) is machine harvested. Depending on the situation, contracts are signed either with official local structures such as village authorities for an average planted area of 1 000 Mu (approximately 67 hectares), or directly with producers who rent the land that belongs to the state. Contracts determine the area to be planted as well as provisional volumes. They also set out a program for planting and harvesting, and include supplies of seeds and plant health inputs.
In market terms, the Chinese tomato industry has made an explosive entrance on the international scene, with export volumes rising from 100 000 tonnes in 1999 to more than 1 million tonnes in 2010 and 1.1 million tonnes in 2011. Chronologically, Chinese exports were initially shipped (1995 and 96) to the neighboring regions in the Far East (Japan, Philippines, Korea). But the trade-flow was increasing with the European Union (Italy, Germany, UK) and Russia. This has been maintained and consolidated over the past fifteen years. After 2004 and 2005, Chinese processors opened up new markets for their products, especially in North Africa (Algeria) and West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Togo). Currently, it is this region which is the main market outlet for Chinese exports of tomato paste. China is a huge consumer of fresh table tomatoes. In 2009, the annual consumption of fresh tomatoes was 20 kilos per capita, but the consumption of processed tomato per capita was one kilo, only accounting for 5% of total consumption. However, this makes room for future developments, making China a potential market for processed tomato consumption. Statistics show that fresh tomato consumption represented 98 % of total consumption in 1999 and 95 % ten years later. Canned tomato paste (repacked or direct filled) is the largest category consumed, accounting for 60% of consumption. The remaining categories include sauce and ketchup, diced and whole peeled, juice and lycopene, etc. In 2010, Chinese people consumed approximately 1.02 million metric tonnes of processed tomatoes (farm weight equivalent), and the Chinese industry expects domestic consumption to reach 1.38 million tonnes (farm weight equivalent) by 2015. The Chinese tomato processing industry is represented within WPTC by the China Canned Food Industry Association (CCFIA).
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