As the Indian grape season is in full swing, prices for Indian grapes in Europe have fallen significantly, says Samir Singh, business promoter for Indian grape exporter Mersel Foods: "The market in Europe for Indian grapes has crashed; rates have been undergoing a free fall. Within two weeks the prices for white seedless, 5kg punnets have come down from 13 EUR to 9 EUR, and for 4.5 kg box the prices have fallen from 11 EUR to 8 EUR. The oversupply from India, a prolonged South African grape season and the irregular arrival of vessels have all contributed to creating chaos in the market."
In India, the season for grapes has been going smoothly thanks to conducive weather conditions, Singh explains. "We've experienced a seamless journey, successfully executing all our production plans so far. This contrast with previous seasons highlights a notable improvement, allowing us to navigate through the production process with efficiency and effectiveness. The positive weather conditions have led to the production of good-quality grapes. However, untimely rains and hailstorms during the flowering stage of the grape cultivation have adversely affected certain grape-growing regions. Consequently, there is going to be a shortage of grape material from week 13 onwards, and the season will end around two weeks earlier than usual."
Singh acknowledges that the Red Sea crisis has brought a lot of difficulties for the export to Europe: "Despite the early ending of the season, the current season has witnessed a surplus production during the earlier phases, due to favourable climatic conditions. Consequently, compared to the previous season, there is expected to be an increase in volume of grape exports. Europe has been our main market this year. However, the Red Sea situation appears to have caused many problems for us. While substantial hike in freight rate have increased the cost of produce, uncontrolled arrival schedule has led to delays and the arrival of several vessels at the same time, causing over supply in the market. A 40 days transit time to Rotterdam has caused adverse effect on the quality of delivered fruits, by and large. However, measures taken by us in sourcing of quality fruits, and some adjustments in post-harvest procedures have allowed us to mitigate the quality issue due to long transit."
The prices of grapes in India have followed a fluctuating trend throughout the season, Singh explains. "Initially, when there was a shortage of high-quality grapes, prices were high. However, as the season progressed and more grapes became available, prices decreased. Now, as the season nears its conclusion, prices are rising once again. Given this pattern of fluctuation, the prices will continue to rise until the end of the season. Our grapes are available under Mersel brand in Rotterdam on spot basis through our sales office, Unisel Co."
For more information:
Mr. Samir Singh
Mersel Foods Pvt. Ltd.
Tel: +371 29 516 075
Email: samir@unisel.lv
www.merselfoods.com