Total volume of Philippine mangosteen production in 1998 was 5,237 metric tons.  During 1994 to 1998, volume of production grew by 20%. Sulu posted a 1% growth rate while Misamis Occidental was 40%. (Table 2)

Table 2:  VOLUME OF MANGOSTEEN PRODUCTION BY TOP 7 PRODUCING PROVINCES

Table 3 shows the number of bearing trees for the top seven (7) mangosteen producing provinces in the Philippines.

Table 3:  MANGOSTEEN: NUMBER OF BEARING TREES TOP PRODUCING PROVINCES

Markets

1. Domestic Market
Generally all the mangosteen produced is consumed locally (Table 4, Supply and Use, 1994-1998).

Table 4:  MANGOSTEEN, SUPPLY & UTILIZATION ACCOUNTS, PHILIPPINES, 1994-1998

2. Export Market

The Philippines in 1998 exported to Hong Kong 4,114 kilograms of mangosteen valued at US$3,000 FOB or US$ 0.73 per kilogram.

Table 4:  MANGOSTEEN, SUPPLY & UTILIZATION ACCOUNTS, PHILIPPINES, 1994-1998

Mangosteen availability in Thailand is 20% in May, 35% in June, 35% in July and 10% in August. Malaysian mangosteen is available in June, July and August.  Mangosteen is shipped from Thailand to Hong Kong in 11 kg boxes or corrugated cartons.  The 11 kg box was fetching at US$24.00 or US$2.24 per kilogram.

In September, mangosteen was not available in the market indicating that there is a window of opportunity for the Philippines during its production season. Philippine mangosteen is available in August to November.

Constraints

Supply unavailability of mangosteen remains the largest constraint to increased domestic consumption. The Philippines is severely underplanted with mangosteen.

Recommendation – for a Mangosteen Export Strategy in the Long-term are as follows:

1. Survey of existing production areas should be made so as to permit the development of fruit supplies over the longest period of time.

2. Methods used successfully by leading growers to shorten the non-fruiting period need to be documented, and applied to new plantings.

3. Good quality seedlings, possibly grafted need to be made widely available to farmers.

4. Appropriate intercropping schemes need to be researched, developed, and disseminated to farmers.

5. Credit for planting mangosteen which include on farm irrigation and intercrop financing needs to be made available.

6. Plantings should be sufficiently concentrated so as to permit delivery of sufficient volumes to packing and processing facilities.

7. The Philippines is geographically the closest potential supplier of mangosteen to China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

8. The Philippine crop occurs at a time when both Malaysian and Thai production is low. Future production can be positioned in export markets as a follow-on to the Thai crop, and Malaysian crops. Hong Kong and Taiwan are the nearest markets.

9. The development of techniques for shipping mangosteen in cartoons, under refrigeration, to both domestic and export markets should be perfected in preparation for the expansion of production volumes. Modified atmosphere should be investigated for distant export shipping, since preliminary indications are that up to several weeks shelf life can be obtained.

10. Whole frozen fruits, or frozen pulp would appear to offer good potential for penetrating European and American markets since freezing eliminates the need for costly air shipment and obviates fruit fly quarantine in the US and Japan wide availability of air cargo space to Saudi Arabia and   the Persian Gulf States would indicate that these fresh markets should be targeted for introduction of the product via air shipment

Source : Market Development for Philippine Fruits, Agribusiness Systems Assistance Program, 1993.