Fruit and vegetable sendings from two major ports in the south of Argentina have fallen by a third year on year for the first five months of 2012.

Services operator Patagonia Norte’s statistics show produce shipments from Bahia Blanca and San Antonio Este stood at 261,698 tonnes for the period.

Some 189,340t of these were pear and 67,802t were apples. Onions accounted for 3,000t and grapes for 1,309t. This is the lowest total volume for the period in eight years with the late presence of stored pears on European markets as well as competition from Chile and South Africa influencing the figures.