The expected surge in South African grape shipments to Asia after improved access agreements with China, and the full-year opening of the Thai market, has not yet materialised.
But for good reason. The early-producing regions are normally geared to the European and UK markets because they predominantly produce white seedless varieties, and this mix is not ideal for Asia. Orange River growers who entered Asia with white seedless grapes were somewhat disappointed, with reports indicating that prices in China dropped significantly from an earlier confident start before the Chinese New Year.
Nevertheless, growers in this region still packed some 1m more cartons for Asia than last year, despite harvesting being disrupted by rain.
The other big region, the Hex River, where most Crimson Seedless grapes destined for the Far East are grown, has so far experienced excellent growing conditions, boosting fruit quality and taste. If this prevails, growers there are likely to harvest a bumper crop.
The mid-season regions have started shipments, and with the Hex River normally dominating with Crimson Seedless, significant growth in shipments is expected from now on.
So far, shipments to China, Hong Kong and Japan are around 0.5m cartons up on the prior year period, with exports to South East Asia more or less on the same level.
“Growers and shippers still have to get used to the new protocol in China, and we expected a somewhat slow start,” SATI’s chief executive Willem Bestbier told Fruitnet. “Now that the red and black seedless regions are coming into harvesting and packing, we expect a different story.”
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