Shanghai’s fruit import trade is looking forward to a jump in demand for the upcoming Moon Festival.
“June, July and August are always the low months for fruit imports because there are abundant supplies of domestic fruit, the weather is hot and there are no festivals,” said Kurt Huang of Shanghai Huizhan Fruit & Vegetable Wholesale Market.
“The Moon Festival falls on 19 September this year, and it is followed by the week-long National Day Holiday on 1 October, so the market will soon be heating up.”
Huang predicted demand to surge two weeks before the Moon Festival as people begin gifting fruits or buying more for their own consumption during the festival.
While all products will enjoy a lift in demand, he singled out seafreighted Canadian cherries as a potential star performer. “They should hit the jackpot as there’ll be limited supplies and no competition from Washington cherries in the market by then.”
Tropical fruits, such as longan and dragon fruit, will dominate the market, he said, although oranges from South Africa and Australia are also expected to perform well.
Huang estimated that direct imports of Australian navels to Shanghai have tripled compared with last season, aided by China’s ban on Californian citrus. “In the early season, they got really high returns because of the ban, but the price has since dropped quite sharply, and now they’re selling below cost. The Moon Festival may help to compensate some of the losses.”
South African Valencia is currently selling at “profitable” wholesale prices, Huang added, while noting that the season is running two weeks late. Port congestion has held up the cold treatment process, stemming shipments, he said.
On the apple deal, domestic stocks typically run low around September, before the new season starts, he noted, creating opportunities for imports. “If the domestic crop is down, the price will rise and this will be a good opportunity for French apples because the US apples are still banned,' he said. 'But the first shipments of French apples don't usually arrive until around end of September, after the Moon Festival.'
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