The first conventional reefer vessel this year carrying citrus fruit from South Africa to the US departed over the weekend, carrying more than 3,000 pallets of new season fruit.
The vessel is due to arrive in Philadelphia on 23 June when South Africa’s 2009 citrus marketing season will move into top gear.
The first reefer vessel, Asian Lily, started loading on Wednesday 27 May 2009, and operations were initially somewhat delayed by the arrival of the first winter cold fronts at the Cape.
However, she finished loading on Friday afternoon (29 May), and was stabilized on Saturday evening before departing for the US.
The vessel carries some 1,672 pallets of clementines and 1,401 pallets of navel oranges.
The second bulk reefer vessel is the Asian Orchid, which is slightly smaller than the Asian Lily and will sail with 3,450 pallets. This shipment is due in the US on 7 July 2009.
Meanwhile, the harvesting of navels are now moving to a peak, while the clementines are over the early season peak.
Total South African clementine shipments, including late mandarins, is now estimated at 2.8m (2.3kg) cartons, which is a reduction of 600,000 cartons on last season.
The internal quality of all the summer citrus categories remains very high.
