Exports of Chilean table grapes fell by 4.6 per cent during the 2011/12 season to 813,510 tonnes in comparison to the previous campaign due to problematic weather conditions, according to Revista de Campo and reported by Agro Meat.
“It was a season marked firstly by the frost and snowstorm in Copiapó in July 2011 which caused a smaller volume of exportable fruit in the earliest varieties,” explained Ronald Bown, chairman of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (Asoex).
“Then high temperatures affected the northern and central-southern regions of the country, causing an advance in the ripening of the `grape` berries and the distribution of sizes in the bunches, which meant the fruit was inclined towards smaller sizes and resulted in a lower exportable volume.”
Market-wise, the US and Canada retained their positions as the leading export destinations, receiving 46 per cent of the total crop, the report said.
That figure, however, was apparently down 9.3 per cent on the 2010/11 season, with the US absorbing 359,254 tonnes (or 10 per cent less than in the previous season) and Canada taking 19,128 tonnes (or 2 per cent more).
Sendings to the US market of Red Globe grapes reportedly rose by 8 per cent, while exports of Thompson Seedless, Flame Seedless and Sugraone fell by 20 per cent, 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
Europe ranked as the second-largest market, with 23 per cent of the volume or 11.6 per cent less than during the 2010/11 campaign, according to the report.
The shortfalls in North America and Europe were compensated by export growth in Asia and Latin America, the report said.
Asia apparently saw an 8.5 per cent rise in volume, accounting for 19.6 per cent of the total, including a 7 per cent growth in Red Globe arrivals, a 22 per cent hike in Autumn Royals and a 10 per cent increase in Thompsons.
Latin America, meanwhile, reportedly registered a 15.7 per cent upturn in volume, representing 9.8 per cent of Chile’s global table grape shipments.
