New Zealand’s apple crop has been hit by poor weather conditions, dashing hopes of bumper volumes.
A combination of climatic setbacks in February and errors in earlier calculations means that volumes could struggle to hit 19 million cartons, against pre-season estimates of 20m cartons.
Most of the crop has been picked, but it is still not clear how big the shortfall will be. Shippers estimate a deficit of between 10-25 per cent.
Royal Gala is hit hardest. Rain and strong winds, particularly in Hawkes Bay, have caused big reductions. The high humidity is believed to have caused some of the fruit to split, and reduced firmness and brix levels.
Braeburn volumes will also be down on initial forecasts. John Altham, md of Pick Mee Fruit Co, said: “Original estimates put the crop at 8m cartons, or around 2m cartons up on last year. The increase now looks likely to be some 500,000 cartons.”
South African arrivals are alslo delayed, leaving South America with a clear run in the European market. The first Chilean consignments arrived some 10 days earlier than last season, while Argentina was almost a week ahead of 2003.
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