According to the US authorities in New Zealand, the NZ exportable apple crop is expected to total some 16million tray carton equivalents, or 288,000tonnes. This compares to 14millionTCEs last season. The increase is likely due to more favourable growing conditions. Rainfall was abundant during the spring and there was an absence of late frosts. However, continuing strong rainfall into the summer raised fears of limited crop damage.

The new season will be the first in a deregulated marketplace for NZ growers although former monopoly exporter Enza is still forecast to account for exports of the majority of the crop with industry estimates running at 11m-12m TCE's for the one-time marketing board.

Topics