Willem Bestbier, CEO of SATI explains that volumes should be on par with the five year average, possibly just slightly higher, "Last year we suffered from frost and hail which kept the volumes down. There have been some new plantings in the Oliphants River and Orange River regions which are coming into commercial volumes this year but that is just a small amount."
Prices for the first South African grapes to reach Europe and the UK were high but as Bestbier explained that did not last, "Due to these high prices the market built up some stock and in the week or so before Christmas we saw a dramatic drop in price and only now we are seeing a firming up of prices which is good news for the Berg River and Hex River regions which are still very much in production."
He doesn't expect prices to recover to pre-Christmas levels, but the exchange rate is giving growers a slight advantage at the moment.
According to some accounts the SE Asia market is flooded with grapes at the moment and prices are low for the run up to Chinese New Year, but Bestbier explains that although they are important for South Africa these markets only form a small part in South African exports. "These markets have technicalities which concern us, such as cold treatments due to psytosanitary issues which are not ideal but we are obliged to follow, but we are quite happy with the performance of the niche markets which we have there."
"As for the influence of the Indian grape exports this season, it is difficult to quantify, but everyone seems to be talking about their presence on the European markets," concludes Bestbier.