Chilean producer Gesex will begin exporting stonefruit to the UK at the end of December, following a 10-day delay to the season.

Cold weather during the winter months is behind the later start.

Gesex began harvesting peaches at the beginning of November and is currently handling 800 tonnes of peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and cherries a week.

“Volumes will be increasing every week and will peak around 1,600t in late December,” Juan Gabriel Pérez, Gesex commercial manager, told FPJ. “They should stay at this level until mid-February.”

Although Pérez feels it is too early to predict how market prices will pan out in 2007-08, the industry “should see historic prices for most products and hopefully some improvements”.

Chile exported 31.5 million cartons of stonefruit in 2006-07. Europe represents one of the country’s biggest markets, importing around 9m cartons.

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