The Ministerial Regional Secretary (Seremi) of Agriculture in the region of Coquimbo, Andrew Chiang, said the region of Coquimbo had exported more than 5 million boxes of table grapes to the US and Canada this season. He also said they had achieved this export volume because the harvest began before time and they had been able to conduct their first exports fourteen days before the previous season.
According to the region's grape producers, this led to an oversupply in the US, as a lot of the production arrived there simultaneously, which in turn led to a decrease in prices. According to producers, the results are very complicated because, in many cases, they are putting at risk the returns they expected from their productions.
Positive season
Despite this, the Seremi of Agriculture said the regions' fruit export season had been positive. "So far this season, in December we exported 1.9 million boxes of table grapes, in January 3.5 million, and in February 185,000 boxes through our port," he said.
He also said that "it is important to mention that not everything that is produced in the region goes through the port of Coquimbo. Additionally, the harvest started ahead of schedule, so it arrived in the US at the same time as the Peruvian grapes, and when they still had grapes in cold storage."
Finally, he said - "We should highlight the significant volume exported through the port of Coquimbo and the SAG's technical and management capacity of taking over this task, which brings many benefits for our producers," he added.
Source: mundomaritimo.cl