Doubts have been cast on the validity of Wapa’s forecast at the Prognosfruit congress in Vilnius last weekend that China will produce 25 million tonnes of apples this season.

However, Wilhelm Ellinger, market expert of the German market survey bureau SMP, reportedly said that he had misgivings over the forecast. “In May, forecasts indicated that the crops on the trees was twenty percent smaller. Therefore, I want to see confirmation from other sources.

He said that because of the bad weather, processed apple prices will be high this year - but China’s production of apple juice concentrates could influence this. ”China is the world’s largest producer of apples. China exports approximately one million tons. Although the export of fresh apples to Europe has not increased very much during the past several years, the harvest is critical to the price of processed fruits,” he said.