Total import value, however, was 6.8 percent higher than in 1992 and 22.6 percent higher than in 1988. The drop in volume and rise in value stem largely from Italian importers bringing in substantially more high-value product from the Netherlands in 1993 than in previous years, and reducing imports of cheaper Thai product. Although European imports of Thai product decreased, imports of higher-priced Singaporean product increased, showing that there is room in the market for quality product. Thai imports dropped by 9.7 percent between 1992 and 1993, from 69.7 million stems to 62.9 million stems. Imports from the Netherlands, in contrast, increased from a mere 566,000 stems in 1992 to 10.6 million stems in 1993.
Italian importers sell Thai orchids for the lowest reported prices in Europe.
May. Prices were highest between April and May, and lowest between August and December. Compared with 1992 figures, imports for 1993 were down roughly 33 percent in both volume and value. Imports of orchids from the Netherlands took the largest drop, falling from 31.8 million stems in 1992 to 16.6 millions stems in 1993. Prices were highest from June to November. Thailand supplied 81.4 percent of Dutch orchid imports in 1993, yet imports of Thai product were at their lowest point in six years.