Approximately 600,000 tons of pears and apples harvested in the Alto Vale de Rio Negro, Argentina, are set to depart from the Port of San Antonio Oeste this week. This marks the beginning of this season’s export cycle, with a projected 20% increase compared to the previous export campaign, according to the data from the provincial government.
The fruit’s first destination will be Brazil. From there, they will be shipped to other countries, including Russia, the primary buyer of fruits produced in the Alto Vale. In this context, Facundo Fernández, the Fruit Growing Secretary of Rio Negro, explained that the region enjoys “favorable harvesting conditions, aided by the recuperation of high-quality yields that meet international standards.”
“This year, the weather has been more in line with what we traditionally see in the region; we have not experienced late frosts or hailstorms, which favors the production of clean and defect-free pears,” he noted.
The chart below shows the month-on-month progression of fruit exports in containers from Argentina between Jan 2020 and Dec 2023. The data is from Datamar’s maritime intelligence service DataLiner.
Moreover, he emphasized that “although the cost structure is very high, the favorable exchange rate, which should boost the province’s export economy, nourishes our hopes.”
Regarding Russia, the main buyer of Rio Negro’s fruits, Fernández stated, “Due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, several shipping companies restricted the entry of our products. This situation has been remedied in advance this year, allowing us to recover the market share lost due to the conflict.”
The pears and apples harvest in the Rio Negro Valley generates a significant volume of employment each year, with activities extending until May.
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