The Argentinean apple and pear industry expects less volume and possible delays to harvesting next year, following a period of sustained unstable weather, including a cooler-than-normal spring period in the South American country.
Early forecasts indicate that apple production will fall by 30 per cent against 2009, Argentinean analyst Top Info Marketing, told Fruitnet.com. The pear crop, meanwhile, is expected to contract by 10 per cent.
“Fruit quality is still unclear, as well as whether the industry can overcome socio-political issues such as strikes to avoid delays to harvesting,” Betina Ernst of Top Info explained.
Despite the less-than-positive outlook, Argentinean authorities claim the country’s pear export sector is weathering the impact of the recession better than other Argentinean fruit categories, including citrus, table grapes and blueberries.
Between January and October 2009, Senasa claims Argentina shipped 1.21m tonnes of fruit worth US$906.71m, down 17 per cent and 22 per cent respectively against the year-earlier period.
Of that total, pears represented 445,336 tonnes, Senasa said, a fall of 2 per cent in volume although stable in value terms (US$319m) compared with the same period in 2008.
In comparison, citrus exports reached 501,118 tonnes worth some US$348m, a decrease of 27 per cent in volume and 34 per cent in value against the January-October period of 2008. Similar declines were also recorded for table grapes, blueberries and other berries, according to Senasa.
