The executive director of Argentina's Chamber of Integrated Fruit Growers (CAFI), Marcelo Loyarte, said this year's export volumes will be the same as in the last season.
Loyarte made a first assessment a few days before the close of a new pear and apple harvest in the Upper Valley.
"We are making our first assessments. Much of the harvest will come to an end this week. There were some decreases in production because of the hail and because of issues in flowering. The lack of funding to conduct the harvest was critical but we have developed it slowly," Loyarte said.
For several years fruit exports from the Upper Valley have been declining, in addition, the sector has had a recent deep internal crisis that, according to Loyarte, helped create the perfect storm.
According to the president of the CAFI: "It's premature to make a diagnosis of how the markets will behave as the first ships to start exports are about to arrive. But there are some early signs."
He stated that the Russian market was "behaving as we imagined. It is a market with difficulties because of the devaluation of the ruble. Meanwhile, the European market's behavior is slightly uneven, depending on the country and the amount of stock of fruit they have."
Then he spoke about Brazil, the biggest historical buyer of pears and apples from South America. "The volume of exports to Brazil has decreased because many exporters are being very cautious as a result of the increased controls against the codling moth. Last year there were some exports of fruit and that has somehow kept February's level," he stated. He also said: "The United States was an interesting market. That is the preliminary diagnosis we have so far."
After visiting the main markets, Loyarte said he believed they would achieve the same export volume as the did last year. "What is going to change is the market composition. Part of the volume that was sent to Brazil last year will surely go overseas due to the codling moth issue. The export volume level, however, is expected to be the same. It is likely that those exports go to Europe and, if there are some size variations, to the United States. We do not believe that export to Russia will increase," he stated.
Source: noticiasnet.com.ar
