The apple purchase season in many production areas in China came to an end in October. Many farmers stored top-quality apples for later. Since the apples matured late this year, the purchase season was shorter than usual, and the volume of apples in storage is larger than usual. Farmers in Shanxi also stored their apples in cellars to await the arrival of fruit traders.
According to data derived from farmer's feedback, the large, refrigerated warehouses in Shaanxi and Gansu are filled to capacity with apples. The medium and smaller warehouses, which are closer to farmers, are also filled for about 70%-80%. The warehouses in Shandong are not that full yet. The apples matured later than in other production areas so the purchase season is not yet finished.
The period from harvest until Chinese New Year [25 January, 2020] is 20 days shorter than in previous years. Furthermore, the number of fruit traders with storage space is smaller. Fruit traders expect to be able to supply apples until the end of the year. Afterwards there are a few likely scenarios:
1. Apple traders will buy top-quality apples this year. The purchase price will increase in the mid- to long-term. Furthermore, the supply volume of top-quality apples is smaller than in previous years. Buyers will rush to production areas with top-quality apples and the price will run high.
2. The apples that are stored in larger, refrigerated warehouses will sell quite well because these warehouses have a good reputation for storage management.
3. Farmers who made strict selections before entering their apples into storage will also have an easier task selling their apples.
4. The apple harvest in 2019 was abundant. Only in Shandong did the production remain small. In Shaanxi and Gansu the production volume of top-quality apples was relatively large. Many of these top-quality apples were not sold but were entered into storage. In terms of apples in storage, this is one of the larger years in the recent past.
Source: Fruit Industry Prices Online