Chinese fruit importers have reported a disappointing performance from South African oranges for the recent Moon Festival, which fell on Sunday.

After focusing their attention on Europe earlier in the season, many South African orange suppliers have turned to Asia in recent weeks, and China in particular, resulting in heavy arrivals into Hong Kong.

However, slow sales in China and issues relating to arrival quality and market access have resulted in a large backlog of unsold fruit, according to local sources.

“It’s the arrival condition that has hurt the most,” said one buyer. “Valencias have been arriving with light colour, soft texture and pitting on the skin. Lately, the sizes have been getting smaller, with count 72s forced onto the market. This is not the right size and it is causing a loss.”

Other products, such as US grapes and Australian mandarins reportedly achieved stronger prices for the Moon Festival on relatively limited volumes.