After a couple of year's absence the New York Produce Show was back in December New York Produce Show with a better turnout than expected. The Shanghai International Fruit Expo also went ahead this month.
The Belarusian government announced early in December that it would ban some food imports from Western countries in retaliation to sanctions imposed against Belarus. The ban will become active on the 1st of January in 2022 and will last for six months. Fruits and vegetables from the EU, US, Canada, Britain, Norway.
This month South Africa finally gained entry to the Chinese market with pears. Colombian mango growers and shippers welcomed the opening of the U.S. market. Mango imports will be subject to phytosanitary risk mitigation measures such as hot water treatment or phytosanitary irradiation. Jalisco became the second Mexican state to be allowed to export mangoes to the United States. For almost 25 years, Mexico has been allowed to export avocados only from Michoacan.
It had been a cool start to the grape harvest in Namibia but by mid-month temperatures were starting to increase. Cool weather in the Northern Cape had also slowed down the start of the season, but intake volumes were well ahead of last year this time.
WAPA updated the Northern and Southern Hemisphere's apple and pear production forecast
Colombian Hass avocado exports up to September 2021 grew by 35% in volume and 63% in value, in the first nine months of 2021, Colombia exported 69,629 tons of avocado.
There were large export volumes and high hopes for Chilean cherries to China. This year the season had a slow start due to weather conditions, including colder days with lower temperatures.
The British Columbia blueberry industry had been severely impacted by recent floods, from flooded fields and homes to supply chain issues, it was an especially challenging time for British Columbia with at least 2,500 acres of blueberries impacted.
Having kicked off mid-November, the Egyptian strawberry season was in full swing with good volumes.
After a year which saw record rates for containers container freight rates were forecast to accelerate through 2022, outpacing earlier forecasts as well as expectations for dry container freight rates, as reefer traffic recovered from a flat 2020 and container vessel slots remain scarce.