While South Africa will have a great apple crop for 2019, there is no magic in the volumes this year. The apple crop is lower than in 2016 and more or less at the same level as in 2017, while pears look set to be slightly down.
Despite this, apple shipments are expected to be around six per cent higher than last year, when South African growers experienced a crippling drought.
Total export apple shipments are estimated at 33.3 million cartons, while pears will see shipments of 16.8m
cartons.
In recent years South African apple growers have diversified their markets, with much less dependence on the traditional markets of the UK and Europe. The Far East and south-east Asia now rank as the country’s most important marketing regions, followed by Africa, so for apples the total export picture has moved considerably to the east.
However, the traditional ties between South Africa and the UK on apples will remain strong, which is one of the reasons why South African apple industry sources have been following the Brexit debate so closely. That said, so close to the Brexit deadline, there is some concern over exactly what the situation will be after 29 March.
One grower-exporter who does a lot of business with UK retailers says there is a degree of uncertainty over what will happen this year. “Most of us are adopting a wait-and-see attitude,” he explains. “If the next two months run smoothly, we will more or less see normal business.”
For pear growers things are slightly different because they sell a far larger percentage of their crop in Europe and the UK.
In terms of importance for export earnings for the country, South African topfruit growers estimate that they ship fruit with an export value of R8.4 billion (£440.5m) every year. Fresh sales represent 91 per cent of all sales and the industry also has a very vibrant local market.
While growers will be watching developments in the UK and Europe with great interest, they will celebrate the fact that they have much better growing conditions this year compared with last. Initial reports on the season indicate good quality and this will set the scene for a good season.
They will hope, however, that there will be stability in South Africa in the period up to the country’s elections in May when a huge portion of their fruit will be packed and shipped. They will also hope that the country’s electricity supply problems will be resolved soon without damaging their very sensitive products.
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