Stonefruit volumes so far have been good, but a heat wave that saw temperatures rise above 40°C in the first week of January has caused the crop to be revised downwards.
Apricots and peaches could be up to 10 per cent and 15 per cent down on last season respectively, according to information released last week by industry body Hortgro Services.
Apricot sendings are to decrease by around 93,000 cartons to 882,853 cartons, while peaches are to fall 167,333 cartons to 967,011 cartons, according to the forecast.
But nectarines are predicted to rise three per cent - 72,305 cartons - to 2.7 million cartons while plums are set to increase by five per cent (410,526 cartons) to 8.3m cartons.
Prices on wholesale markets have been high. South African peaches and nectarines cost 450p for 4kg on Nottingham wholesale market while Sapphire plums made 800p for 5kg on Western International market.
Hortgro Services executive director Anton Rabe said: “The main issue is the strength of the rand… The weather has been a real problem. High winds and the heat wave have been detrimental. Eating quality is, however, very good.”
Meanwhile UK white grape importers are expecting their last arrivals next week. Plans to promote on price in the supermarkets have been cut short so that levels have risen to £4.49-4.99 a kilo, up from the short-lived promotional ticket at some of the major multiples earlier this month of £2.49.
High winds also delayed vessels departing so that there was a 10-day gap in arrivals between 7 and 17 January.
“The situation is not going to get any better for white seedless,” one importer told freshinfo. “Chilean fruit is still three weeks away as they are only loading this weekend and there won’t be decent volumes arriving until 14 February.”
The situation is not quite so bleak on red fruit as there is still red seedless coming out of the Western Cape.
