Polish traders are buying extremely large volumes of apples. Dutch, Belgian and Italian traders are reporting high demand from Eastern Europe. It is presumed that many of the apples are transported to Russia, under the radar. In the United States, storages are full of apples. Because of a good harvest combined with the strikes a few months ago, growers were left with large volumes. The apples are now exported in great numbers to countries including Canada, India and China. On these markets, a surplus of Washington apples is reported. In the southern hemisphere, meanwhile, the new season has begun. In South Africa, the mood is low due to developments beyond the sector, such as exchange rates and political unrest. In Oceania, the mood is better. The hail damage in New Zealand appears to have a limited effect on the harvest.
Asia & OceaniaAustralian warehouses not packed
Although Australia is having a good apple season, the volumes aren't particularly large. Due to hail damage, 10 percent of the harvest is expected to be supplied to the processing industry. On the other hand, the acreage is bigger this year, and the production of Fuji, the most popular variety in Australia, is 10 percent higher than in previous years. The Pink Lady cultivation also remains high, for this variety specifically there are reports of storage being full, and the harvest being exceptionally good. In addition, there are growers who are reserving more acreage for the Kanzi. Apple growers are also breaking new ground with the Jazz. New orchards are put into use. There is also a lot of interest among the growers in other, new varieties like the Envy, Smitten, Ambrosia and Ifored.
Tasmanian apples for China
In addition to the varieties mentioned above, the Rubigold is gaining ground. The apple is mainly destined for export to Asia. Since Australia and China reached a free trade agreement allowing export from Tasmania, several shipments have been sent. Another market for this apple is Vietnam. In addition, Tasmania starts exporting Pink Lady to China. The volumes are still small, and most of the Pink Lady volume remains on the domestic market, but it's a start. The Fuji is a more well-known apple in Asia.
Chinese consumer still opting for Fuji
The Chinese consumer has a preference for the sweet apple varieties. According to one Chinese trader, the South African apples, for instance, are no match for the sweet flavour of the Chinese produce. The Chinese consumer isn't afraid of trying a new apple though, the trader says. Prices in China vary. Good quality apples have yielded more lately, while the apples of worse quality are becoming cheaper.
The main trading partners for China when it comes to apples, were Chile and New-Zealand in 2014. The South American country has a market share of 68.8 percent, New Zealand has 23 percent of the market in hand. In third place there's France with a market share of 7.5 percent, and Australia. Small volumes, not even one percent of market share, are imported from Australia and Japan. Remarkably, the import from the US has come to a halt. While in 2002 over 21,000 tonnes of apples were still imported, statistics show the number over 2014 is 0. This year, the borders will open again for the American apples. For Australian apples, an import tariff of 11 percent applies, which limits trade.
New Zealand: recovery after hail
Although apple growers in New Zealand were facing heavy hailstorms a few months ago, the damage doesn't seem to be that bad. There was significant damage in the Hawkes Bay and Nelson regions, but the harvest in those regions turns out higher than expected. There was also fear in New Zealand of a surplus on the European market, caused by the Russian boycott. At the moment though, there seems to be sufficient demand for the new harvest Breaburn and Jazz from New Zealand.
Latin America
Brazil keeps borders closed for Argentine apples
The Brazilian government was recently to take a decision on opening the market to Argentine apples, but voting was postponed. This means Brazil will remain closed for Argentine top fruit. For the Argentines, it's another blow to the sector. The season was already far from faultless. Hail influenced the harvest. There were problems with the unions, and commercially, the devaluation of the Euro and the rouble impacted trade negatively. Finally, the storage in the northern hemisphere was full of apples.
India full of American apples
The apple market in India is facing a surplus of apples from Washington. Although there is also supply from other countries, including Belgium, New Zealand and Chile, the American apples are dominating the market. The import from these countries puts prices under pressure. At the moment, there is high demand for Belgian apples in India, one trader says. The import from Chile is at 1 million boxes at the moment. Last year, between 500,000 and 600,000 boxes were imported.
The prices for apples are under pressure, but demand is developing well. For the coming weeks, one Indian trader is expecting the supply to remain steady, and the market to remain stable. Next month, the new harvest of Indian apples is expected. The trader says he hopes the market will remain stable.
North America
Canada enthusiastic about new apples
Early last month, Canada was already looking forward to the arrival of the first New Zealand apples. In early June, the first shipments are coming into port. Popular among the Canadian consumers are the Envy and Jazz. The prices are lower, because of companies from Washington flooding the Canadian market. This means the retailers have more interest in the club varieties, which sell at better prices. The Canadian consumer is also prepared to pay more for the club varieties.
US flooding Canada
The Canadian apple market is flooded with produce from the United States West coast. This already put the market under pressure in April, with the apples from Ontario facing more competition. The prices were below last year's levels, but the Canadian consumer shows more interest in the new Ambrosia variety.
In the American state of Washington, growers are looking back on the past season positively. With a record of 140 million boxes, it was a good year, and the largest part of the harvest has now been sold. The new harvest is expect in late July. During the summer, Gala, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Fuji are expected to be highly available. The last apples from storage are also being sold. For this season, the estimates aren't definitive, but the volume will probably turn out lower than last year. In view of the available volumes, the average prices are a bit lower than in years with shortages.
Europe
The Envy is on the rise in Europe. Growers in Oceania say they want to ship more volume to Europe. In addition, there are plans for planting in Spain and Great Britain. Traditionally, the apple is popular in North America and Asia, major export markets for the growers in Oceania.
Moldovan apple season closes with high prices
Despite the boycott, Moldovan apple growers succeeded in ending the season with high prices. The remaining volumes are offered at prices between 44 and 51 cents per kilo, depending on the variety. That's three times as much as in May last year, when the apples yielded 16 to 27 cents per kilo. The high prices are caused by a shortage on the domestic market. Because Russia, the most important buyer of the fruit, closed its borders, many growers decided not to store the apples. This means the storage in Moldova is empty a month earlier than usual.
Hail damages apple harvest Hungary
Apple growers in the Hungarian Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg region were hit by hailstorms at the end of May. It's still unclear how big the damage is, and how much of the harvest will be lost. According to reports, the fruit has suffered significant damage, and a large part of the harvest will be lost.
UK
The first New Zealand apples arrived on the British market, where competition is noticeable in the prices. For the club varieties, the prices are higher than for the free varieties.
French optimistic about season
The past months, the bad forecasts from January turned out to be unfounded. The season is closing with a generally good result. Because of the economic situation and the closed Russian borders, difficult months were expected. On a variety level, there were clear differences though. The Granny Smith and Golden Delicious had a tough year, partly because of lower quality and too many large sizes. Other varieties, like the Pink Lady, did perform well, and the Royal Gala started with a difficult market, but thanks to the good quality, the apple pulled through.
Italy
The storage of apples was 10.6 percent higher than last year at the end of April, with a volume of 455,720 tonnes. With the increased demand, mainly from Eastern Europe, Italy expected to be able to lower the stocks significantly in a month. Galas are hardly available anymore. The import from the southern hemisphere has slowed down, because the Euro/dollar exchange rate worsened the competition position of these countries. Due to increased demand from Eastern Europe and less import from the southern hemisphere, the prices are increasing. In early June, the wholesale prices were 1 Euro per kilo, with a peak of 1.60 per kilo for the Cripps Pink.
Mood Dutch apple market optimistic
In the Netherlands the mood on the apple market is also optimistic. Prices for Jonagold and Golden fluctuated between 55 and 60 cents per kilo, early May that price was still 25 cents. The prices for apples for the industry also bounced back. While last year in August less than 3 cents per kilo were paid, the price has tripled now.
Causing the higher prices is the increased demand for the apples from Eastern Europe. Polish traders are buying apples en masse. "The only reason it's going well is that the price was so low at the start of the season, so many countries were interested in buying, and there was wide distribution," one Dutch trader says. "That's now bearing fruit." The cold spring was advantageous to domestic sales, but with the upcoming summer and the soft and stonefruit coming to the market, more competition is expected.
For the start of the new season, with the Delbare and Delcorf summer apples, the market will be reasonably cleared up. For these varieties, the expected volume is lower though, due to bad planting. There is also dissatisfaction among the Dutch traders about the official storage figures. Traders are doubting the correctness of these figures.
Belgian apples to Poland
In Belgium, they are also seeing Polish traders showing interest in the apples. According to a Belgian trader, the Polish companies are going through their stocks faster than expected. That's partly due to the cool spring, but also because apples are still exported to Russia. Of course under the radar, because the boycott also applies to Poland. Poland is now said to have significantly replenished the stocks with Dutch and Belgian apples, and would have enough available until the end of the month.
In Belgium, the mid price for Jonagold is around 40 cents, for prepared and sorted ones, the price is 60 cents per kilo. In Belgium, the stocks will also mostly have been sold before the new season begins. For the coming season, lower volumes are expected.
Serbian apple production small, but world news
The Serbian apple production is relatively small, but in recent months the country became world news because Russian companies from the country are suspected of smuggling apples. According to one Serbian trader, it's just one small company that's suspected of this. The apple market in the country is under pressure from seasonal fruit competition. In the coming years, the growers need to invest in expansion and better techniques in order to increase the volume. The past 5 to 6 years, Russia has always been the most important export destination. At the moment, the boycott doesn't influence the market, because the apple cultivation in Serbia is small, and it's mainly a small production that limits the market.
Africa
South Africa gloomy about apple season
At the start of the South African apple season, the mood on the market was gloomy. With large volumes and large volumes in storage in Europe, growers saw a tough season ahead of them. The mood has now improved, although people are still pointing out developments beyond the market that influence apple sales. The fluctuating exchange rate into the South African rand, political turmoil on the continent, which is also rearing its head in South Africa, and an unstable oil price have consequences for the market. In addition to the export destination in the Far East, Middle East, Europa and the US, the African market also offers more opportunities. Countries including neighbouring Zambia and Mozambique have potential, a South African trader says.