As the Chinese New Year festivities approach forecasts for sales in the Singaporean market are looking positive, especially for mandarins, the main attraction during the celebration.
The price of Chinese mandarins has stayed relatively constant this season compared to the fluctuations last year, according to Joe Tan, head of sales for Singaporean importer Ban Choon Marketing.
“In South East Asia mandarins are the big thing for Chinese New Year, and we’re cautiously optimistic about sales of Chinese mandarins,” Mr Tan told Fruitnet.com.
“Talking about Taiwanese mandarins, we’re concerned about the quality this year. The typhoon Taiwan had earlier in the season has caused some scarring problems on the mandarins.”
Pakistani kinnows could also put in a better showing this year, with a larger export crop expected to land somewhere around 200,000 tonnes, according to Pakistani exporter Union Fruit Export.
Stonefruit from Australia is also looking like a winner for Chinese New Year, said Mr Tan.
“We are starting to get big peaches and nectarines from Australia. That big fruit is popular for Chinese New Year.” He explained.
“But New Zealand has a shortened cherry crop this season for the yellow-fleshed Rainier. It ended very earlier this season because of the weather, so we won’t have any of that variety for Chinese New Year.
“We will still have some big-sized Lapins and Sweetheart cherries from New Zealand, but the price is very high. We’re not sure why, but the market is very strong in Hong Kong now, and that affects us here.”
Large apples, particularly from Japan, are expected to do well, said Mr Tan, as will mushrooms used for hot pots.
South Korean cherries have not sold as quickly as hoped, however, and Mr Tan said many importers were currently selling the fruit below cost as import programmes continue to deliver product.
Australian grapes have lost out on market share because of the high Australian dollar and heat-related small berry sizing, which Mr Tan stated is averaging around 15mm.
“We’re seeing good arrivals of South African grapes, because Australia can’t get into the market at all because of their prices,” he said. “We’re buying mainly from South Africa now.”
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