Reasonable
A big part is still on its way, and at the moment more and more apples are starting to come in at Capespan. Stefanie notes that this season, some retailers have focused more on European fruit. "The prices for European pears rose a few weeks ago, and apples are now following the same trend. This way, we can also achieve a reasonable price for overseas. For the demands of the overseas exporters, by the way, that's still not enough. They have to deal with exchange rates, of course, but also with other markets that are doing better."
Not bad
All in all, less came from overseas to Europe this season. "For Capespan, I think volume-wise we're along the same lines as last year. That's because at the end of the season, we stopped the shipments." She says it was remarkable to see that from certain destinations, very little was coming in regarding apples and pears. "Take Argentina, that's normally a very big player. That wasn't the case this year. From New Zealand half as much came in as well. More eventually came in from South Africa, but that was also because the harvest was bigger. All in all, we shouldn't complain," she concludes. "Late last year, both importers and exporters feared what was to come. It's been good that in the end so much European fruit has been sold in all sorts of ways. That was good for volumes and pricing. In Euro terms, the prices for overseas fruit definitely aren't bad."
Guessing
She emphasizes that as an importer of overseas top fruit, things are difficult. "The fruit that's being shipped now, is for a market in mid-July. You don't know what's yet to come, so anticipating is difficult." Capespan exclusively works with programmes for retailers. "So we have to have the fruit in any case, but the prices are only discussed with them later." For the future, it's a matter of guessing what the market will be like. "For pears, things will most likely be good, because there is always room for an overseas pear until September. For apples, it'll be a surprise, we don't exactly know what will come in total. For instance, I know that a country like Chile has a large supply of big sizes... Everything depends on the behaviour of exporters and importers."
For more information:
Stefanie De Puysseleir
Capespan Continent N.V.
Direct: +32 3 546 09 22
Fax: +32 3 546 09 09
www.capespan.com