South American blueberry exports are forecast to increase by 31 per cent during the 2009/10 season to an estimated 69,700 tonnes, compared with last year’s 53,276 tonnes, according to a report by Gabinete MAG and published by Fruticulturasur.com.
Chile is tipped to ship some 53m tonnes (up 30 per cent from 2008/09), while Argentina is predicted to send around 15m tonnes (a 32 per cent increase on last season) and Uruguay just 1,700 tonnes (a 31 per cent growth).
In the case of Argentina, the blueberry season got underway later than usual due to a harvesting delay in Tucumán, caused by a late frost and cooler-than-normal spring conditions, according to Top Info Marketing. In Concordia and buenos Aires, meanwhile, harvesting began as usual with good yields.
The bulk of exports have been exported to the US, which has absorbed 18.2 per cent of South America’s crop so far this season.
