A serious drought in some of Chile’s key avocado-producing areas in June and early July, coupled by a cold snap in the south-central region, is likely to impact on fruit sizing and overall export volume this year.
Rob Wedin of Calavo Growers told Fruitnet.com although there are no official volume estimates available from the industry, the company’s own forecasts before the effects of the latest frost was taken into account were for an export crop of 120,000-150,000 tonnes, compared with the 80,000 tonnes shipped during last season.
“This is an ‘on year’ for Chile and additionally it is expected that foreign markets will be more competitive than the domestic market and a greater share of its production will therefore be exported,” he says.
The first shipments were scheduled to arrive at US ports during week 28.
However, with maturity levels running later than normal, there have not yet been any major shipments out of the country, according to Mr Wedin.
