Harvest time in the north of Peru, November and December, was really hot with drought problems meaning many farms were not able to irrigate as much as they would have liked. Oscar said that this has caused some issues with dehydration in fruit and bunch stems. "January was fine until just last week when heavy rains fell in the Andes which is now affecting the harvest in the Inca region in the south of the country."
UK and European markets were strong pre-Christmas for good quality fruit, in particular for green seedless varieties. Both markets have now adjusted with the influx of South African fruit.
The US market has, generally speaking, been quite weak all season, in particular for red seedless varieties. Oscar explains that this is due to three factors: "A large and late California season with additional storage volume; increasing production from Peru due to new plantings and an early start to the Chilean season. White seedless varieties have fared better than red seedless. It is fair to say that as of mid-January the US grape market is in a poor way with some of the lowest prices ever seen for this period. Asia has seen good demand with steady pricing, with the exception of China, which started weak but has since picked up in January. The majority of volume shipped to Asia is the red globe variety. The Middle East has seen increased shipments and as a result had some price adjustments but overall it has been stable.
Peru exports considerable amounts of red globe to China for the Chinese New Year.
"This year we have also sent crimson seedless to China with excellent results," said Oscar. "Competition is hard every year especially because we also compete with other fruits like cherries, berries and citrus. In addition Peru has not helped itself by sending large volumes of average quality red globe over the past few years, so it’s reputation for high quality grapes has taken a hit, but the best growers and packers are doing a good job. T&G is excited about the year ahead as the production of our own farm in Piura will increase in 2017, including new varieties such as Autumn Crisp, Ivory, Timco and Allison."
For more information:
Jo JalfonT&G Global Limited
Tel: + 64 27 201 2645
Email: [email protected]
www.tandg.global
