The grape campaign in Chile is already underway, and while regions like Copiapó are already loading the first batches of fruit, the peak of the campaign will be reached in December. Jorge Rojas de Mipal tells us about the current situation, stating that "the production volumes are a little lower, but the quality is remarkable. Normally, we have vines with between 40 and 50 clusters, but now we are seeing that they have between 15 and 20 clusters."
Meanwhile, Peru is shipping large volumes to the international market, but mainly of the Red Globe variety. "We believe that they are going to fill the markets; Peru almost always focuses on China and this market will be saturated. But we believe that when Chilean grapes arrive two months later, we will see smaller volumes coming from Peru. It is worth noting that Peruvian white grapes are reaching the United States with sale prices of between 34 and 36 dollars," assured Rojas.
Also noteworthy is that the United States has significant stocks, but of seedless red grapes, thus leaving an open market share for Chilean white grapes. "White grapes are expected to dominate the market, especially the top Thompson variety for the US market, and prices will be very high. Although it is possible for the price to be a little low in the beginning due to the presence of Peruvian grapes, by January, which is when Chilean grapes enter the market, the situation will surely have normalised," stressed the representative.
Also, with the change in the US government, Chilean producers have evaluated the consequences that this political situation could entail for their exports. "We are calm; we have a free trade agreement with the United States in which unilateral modifications cannot be made, so it won't be possible to make changes without Chile's agreement. In fact, the situation could even improve, because since Trump has been president-elect, the exchange rate has improved, which could mean an improvement in our economy," he concluded.
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Jorge Rojas