Shaken, Not Broken

Chilean vintners return to growth Chilean wine exports are expected to rise 8% in 2010, René Merino, president of Wines of Chile, a trade promotion group, told El Mercurio de Santiago. Good news for an industry that took a big hit from February’s earthquake. Concha y...

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Fresh Outlook

U.S. imports will include more fresh veggies and, especially, fruit The U.S. Department of Agriculture current Long-Term Projection foresees U.S. agricultural import values rising to US$106 billion in fiscal year 2019, compared with US$79.3 billion in 2008. Strong...

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More than Granola

Organic foods claim a bigger share of grocery carts The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a weekly market report on organic fruits and vegetables in April, acknowledgement that natural and organic foods now claim a big share of the mainstream U.S....

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Global Bounce Back

WTO forecasts 9.5% growth in trade volumes The World Trade Organization (WTO) projects a rebound in world trade in 2010, recovering some, but by no means all, ground lost in 2009, when global trade volumes contracted 12.2% — the largest decline since World War II. If...

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Cockeyed Optimism

The surge in imports may be a triumph of hope over reality. By Bill Armbruster Have U.S. importers been too optimistic about growth prospects in the U.S. this year? I think so — and I think that helps explain why there such was a mad scramble for container space out...

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Low Expectations

U.S. consumers are pessimistic; confidence is back in Asia, Brazil  The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (released Feb. 23, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households through Feb. 17) now stands at 46.0 (1985=100), down from a relatively optimistic 56.5 in...

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