New Zealand stonefruit growers have enjoyed a solid season in 2009/10, according to Summerfruit NZ, which represents the interests of the country's apricot, cherry, peach, nectarine and plum growers.

Around 40 per cent of the country's stonefruit is sold overseas, and the primary exports are apricots and cherries.

Summerfruit NZ manager Marie Dawkins said that while this year had been a successful one, it couldn't compare to last year's bumper season.

"All the stars were aligned, the weather was grower friendly and everyone held their breath at the right time. I doubt that anyone realistically expected a repeat of such a season," Ms Dawkins told Freshplaza.com.

"This year we were confronted with the usual weather related issues that growers expect."

Adverse weather conditions meant the domestic market had to cope with inconsistent supply and small fruit, particularly early season peaches and nectarines.

Apricots and cherries, however, grew well and enjoyed good quality and size, leading to a solid performance both domestically and overseas.

"Volumes of cherries were down on last year but apricots were up - it's a fairly typical fluctuation," Ms Dawkins said.

"Export programmes flowed well but it's too hard to comment on prices just yet though."

Cherry exports were down in most markets, with the exception of Hong Kong, where shipments increased by almost five times on last year. New market China imported 69,791kg of cherries, while Singapore recorded a 1 per cent increase.

Overall cherry shipments stood at 1.30m kg, in line with 2007/08 figures, but well down on the 2008/09 figure of 1.53m kg.

Apricots picked up the slack though, and with the season drawing to a close overall shipments stood at 1.49m kg, well up on last year's 1.03m kg and 952,892kg from two years ago.

Total exports to the UK and EU were down slightly due to exchange rate pressures, according to Ms Dawkins, with the NZ dollar around 30 per cent higher than last year.