Posts Tagged “Chilean grape imports”
The Chilean grape industry has shipped 20 million boxes globally through Week 8 (March 4), and the Chilean Grape Committee estimates they will end the season very close to 62 million boxes. The U.S. will receive roughly 57% of the total volume…around 35 million boxes.
Chile has exported 15 million boxes to the U.S. through Week 8. Another 20 million will be shipped between Weeks 9 and 17, with the East Coast receiving approximately 15 million, and the West Coast five. Weeks 11 and 12 have been highlighted as the peak weeks for shipments.
Comments Ignacio Caballero, director of marketing of Frutas de Chile and coordinator of the Grape Committee, “More than half of the volume projected for the U.S. market has yet to be shipped, and weekly volumes will increase starting in Week 10. It’s looking like mid-March through April will be a great time for retailers to promote Chilean grapes.”
The Chilean grape industry has seen significant growth this season in exports of Sweet Globe, Allison, Timco, and Autumn Crisp. The variety experiencing the greatest drop in volume has been Thompson Seedless, with volume plummeting by fifty-two percent in response to market feedback. In terms of other export markets, Chile has shipped 11% to the Far East, eight percent to Latin America, and five percent to Europe.
Early season imported grapes from Chile have been reduced because of lack of volume from the Copiapo growing region. Most of those grapes that are normally harvested in November were delayed into December and January.
International Fruit Company of Hammonton, NJ reports during a recent three week period only 8 million boxes of grapes were harvested when it should have been 11 million under normal weather conditions. A year ago nearly 14 million boxes were loaded during that same period.
Frutas de Chile projected this season around 63 million boxes for export, but International Fruit believes the actual volume will be between 55 and 60 million boxes.
According to estimates, there should be about 10 million boxes left in the late season region, and that fruit is simply not there, the company notes.
So the peak of the Chilean season in the U.S. market is expected in mid-March through the end of the month. If the seasons progresses a little better than expected it may last until mid April.
Apparently the Panama Canal is now functioning better during the Chilean season because more water available. This should result in fewer problems for boats transiting the Panama Canal with Chilean grapes.
A big rebound Chilean grape shipments in 2021-22 is forecast in a new estimate from the USDA’s Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service.
Chilean grape Volume will rebound from the decline caused in the 2020-21 season from heavy rain.
At 805,000 metric tons, the USDA’s estimate of Chilean grape production for 2021-22 is up 22% from the 2020-21 season. Chilean grape exports also will increase 22.9% to 645,000 metric tons in the 2021-22 season.
The Oppenheimer Group (Oppy) reports excellent growing conditions in Chile so far this season, and expects to have good volume from January through May. Oppy is shipping Chilean pears, grapes, kiwifruit, citrus, pluots, plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries, berries, avocados, apricots and apples.
Oppy ship grapes 12-months a year and sources product from Chile and Brazil, as well as South Africa, Mexico and California.
The rebound in Chilean grape production is associated in part with increased production from new varieties planted in recent years and a return to more normalized climatic conditions, according to the USDA report.
During the 2020-21 season rainfall during the last week of January 2021 damaged the table grape crop that was ready for harvest in the central region of the country, specifically in the regions of Valparaíso, Metropolitana, and O’Higgins.
That rainfall pulled down Chilean grape production by 15.3%, according to the report, reaching 664,700 metric tons.
For the upcoming 2021-22 season, the USDA table grape exports will total 645,000 metric tons, a 22.8% increase over last season. The U.S. remains the main market for Chilean table grape exports, accounting for 48.5% of Chilean table grape exports.
In 2020-21, Chilean table grape exports to the U.S. totaled 254,811 metric tons, a 7.5% decrease compared with marketing year 2019-20.
Oppy notes one advantage the industry has is that the Chilean bulk grapes are shipped in break bulk vessels. These vessels are unloaded at different terminals from container shipments, and helps volume bypass the current bottleneck.
China is the second market for Chilean grapes, totaling 78,117 metric tons in 2020-21, a 30.1% decline over marketing year 2019-20.
Chilean grapes will be down 25 percent this season following damaging rains a few weeks ago, according to importer/exporter Vanguard Direct, LLC. of Issaquah, WA.
If this estimate is correct it would be 10 percent less than the 35 percent estimated two weeks ago by the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association.
Expectations are now for exports of 65 million boxes, compared to original forecasts of 85 million boxes, with mid-season varieties most heavily damaged.
The development comes during the first season in years in which Chile was expecting an increase over the previous season in its total grape volume.
Peru
The situation is very different in Peru, which by week 5 had shipped 48 million boxes, 12 million more than at the same time in the 2019-20 season.
Peru is now projecting a total crop of 52-54 million boxes representing a 12 percent increase.
Vanguard points out 16 million boxes of Peruvian green seedless grapes have been shipped season to date, which is up 31% over last season. Sweet Globes are up 48% more than last season representing 60% of the total green seedless. The green seedless variety showing the largest decrease from last year has been Sugraone with 30% less shipments than last year.
Meanwhile, 12 million boxes of Peruvian red seedless have been shipped season to date, which is up 13% over last season. The varieties with the most significant increases are Allison Reds at 141% and Sweet Celebrations with an increase of 51%.
Ica has shipped thus far 14 million boxes of table grapes and is predicted to ship approximately an additional 12 million boxes over February and March. Overall, the Ica crop is down 2%.
Vanguard notes Peru and Chilean grape demand is strong in Mexico, and increasing in Canada, the U.S., and Asia with California completing its storage season.
It’s been extremely difficult to get containers in and out of port due to congestion and delays.
During a webinar, named Panorama for Postseason Table Grapes, which was organized by the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) and others, the latest estimate for rain damaged grapes it volume will be slashed by 35 percent this season.
As of February 10, the estimated number of table grape exports only reached 68 million boxes.
Most affected were grapes in central Chile, which destroyed a good part of the mid-season grape crop.
Fedefruta, Chile’s fruit growers group, reports three out of four of the country’s fruit growers suffered some type of damage from the rains, which totaled as much as three to four inches in some regions.
Fruit that was hit by the rains won’t reach U.S. shores until later in February and March. Congestion at U.S. port has been resulting in distribution delays. Not only is it common for boat transit times from Chile to take up to 3 weeks, but port delays have been adding an additional week or two. (see January 29 report)
Importers reports the rains are resulting in grapes splitting, particularly for the green/white seedless.
Good volumes from Peru may, and possibly better quality, is expected to help lessen the shortfall from Chile.
Little to no effect from the rain is anticipated for the Chilean red crimson seedless grapes, which are in good supply from March to April.
Pandol Bros. Inc. of Delano, CA reports generally there will be a shortage of good whites, while red seedless will be plentiful.
Unifrutti Chile points out there will definitely be fewer shipments to the U.S.
The late January rains were the biggest for that month since 1933.
AFC Global Sourcing of Chile notes the rain was very hard from San Felipe and south, hitting tree fruit, grapes and stone fruit.
More imports of Chilean grapes are expected this season due to favorable weather and abundant rainfall, according to a USDA.
Chilean table grape exports to all destinations are expected to reach 620,000 metric tons in 2020-21, a 1.6 percent increase compared with the previous year. The U.S. imports about 46 percent of Chile’s table grapes, followed in volume by China.
The USDA report state, “Rainfall was abundant, especially in the month of June and climatic conditions during the spring have been favorable, thus fruit producers are expecting higher production volumes.”
Chilean fresh apple exports will total 655,000 metric tons, a 3.9 percent increase compared with last season, while pear exports are projected to decline by 4.3 percent to 111,000 metric tons because of a decline in pear planted area.
Grape expectations
Area planted to table grapes in Chile dropped by 4.9 percent in the 2020-21 season, and now totals about 113,000 acres.
Even so, the report said Chilean grape production will remain unchanged from last season and total 780,00 metric tons. The largest drops in table grape planted area were 11.8 percent in the Atacama region and 14.1 percent in the Metropolitana region.
“Table grape production and exports has become very competitive due to the increase in production and exports from Peru, and demand for new varieties of table grapes in destination markets,” the report read.
Varieties like red globe and flame seedless have low margins, and growers have replaced acreage of those varieties with newer grape varieties or alternative crops.
Some winters Chilean grape imports are flooding U.S. markets the first half of January, but pretty much hit a stone wall this year as we entered 2019. That is now changing as shipments of California grapes are in big volume declines as the season concludes.
There was still a lot of California fruit in U.S. markets during December — a whopping 55 percent more California grapes in cold storage in mid-December 2018 vs. mid-December 2017. As a result, Chile has been shipping less to North America and more to Asia.
Through mid December 10,575 tons of Chilean grapes were shipped to North America, compared to 29,000 at the same time last year. Through the end of December, 71 percent of all Chilean grape exports went to North America.
Chilean grape exports started slowly, but have picked up gradually this year. Overall, Chile reports good volumes of grapes for this season and will be exporting product through the current season.
Total global exports of Chilean grapes through the end of December reached 15,419 tons, which was a “significant decline” from the 31,000 tons of a year earlier, according to the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association.
Chile stepped up shipments to the U.S. by early January, however, with the remaining California inventory having dissipated, Brux said, dropping to 1.5 million cases at the end of the year, according to a recent market report.
“Now that January has arrived and much of the California inventory has cleared, we’ll start to see increased volumes, along with big retail promotions, for Chilean grapes in North America,” she said.
As of the first week in January, harvesting was primarily in the Coquimbo region (IV), with the Valparaiso (V) region starting, Brux said.
The largest shipment of Chilean winter fruit so far this season arrived at the Port of Wilmington Dec. 27. The shipment contained more than 676,000 boxes of fresh table grapes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and plums, Brux said. The third bulk reefer was scheduled to arrive the second week of January.
Grape volume from the Copiapó region likely will exceed 10 million boxes this season. The largest volumes from that region were to be harvested from December through mid-January, with late varieties finishing by the first week in March.
North America is the largest market for Chilean grapes, taking in 47% of all Chilean grape exports in 2017-18, Brux said.
Bill Poulos, grape category director for the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Oppenheimer Group, said he expects volumes this year to match year-earlier figures.
“We anticipate red and green grape volumes to be fairly similar to last year, as fortunately the (Nov. 12) hailstorm largely spared Chile’s grape-growing regions,” he said. “With new varieties coming into North America, we expect higher overall volumes in April and May than in the past. This steady supply picture is emerging despite the decline in the flame variety in Northern Chile.”
New varieties will have noticeably higher volumes, said Fernando Soberanes, director of operations for South America with Los Angeles-based Giumarra Cos.
“We expect to see increased production of proprietary grape varieties out of Chile as they continue to gain popularity in the market,” he said. “In general, volumes of traditional grape varieties are declining out of Chile in favor of newer varieties. The decline is heavier toward the early-season varieties than the late varieties, so we will see smaller volumes coming in at the onset of the season and heavier volumes toward the end.”
Volume with imports of Chilean fruit are becoming a little more in focus as forecast evaluations from a big hail storm last November are being summarized.
Export volume of Chilean cherries for the 2018-19 season are projected to be 10.5 percent lower than last season and off 7.1 percent from the initial estimate this year. Cherry exports are estimated at 33.44 million boxes, down from 37.38 million boxes a year ago. Peak export shipments of Chile cherries are expected the last week of December and the first week of January, with the season wrapping up by late February.
Most Chilean cherries are exported to China, but the U.S. also receives volume.
Through November 24th, the USDA reported season-to-date-shipments of Chilean cherries to the U.S. totaled 200,000 pounds, down from 2 million pounds for the same period last year.
Fewer Blueberries
Chilean blueberries apparently had less damage with the hard-hit O’Higgins region representing about 7 percent of the total planted area. However, hail also was reported in some growing areaser area of blueberries in the Maule Region. From the metropolitan region of Santiago to the south, over 4,900 acres of blueberries could have some damage from hail storms.
Chilean blueberry exports for 2018-19 are now projected at 100,800 metric tons, 4 percent lower than the 105,000 metric tons initially forecast. Reduction in volume will be felt in early and mid-season exports.
Through mid-November, about 1,905 metric tons had been exported from Chile, mostly bound for North America. Peak blueberry shipments are expected from December through February, with shipments continuing into March.
Through November 24th, the USDA reported season-to-date imports of Chilean blueberries totaled 2.4 million pounds, down from 3.7 million pounds the same time last year.
Chilean Grapes
The first Chilean grape imports on the East Coast are expected a few days prior to Christmas. While some Chilean grape advocates have said North America grape buyers are not interested in older varieties like California’s flames and red globes, the California grape trade is saying it will be shipping domestic grapes through most of January.
North America is Chile’s biggest grape market, taking 45 percent (39 million boxes) of Chilean grape export volume during the 2017-18 season.
Chilean grape imports by U.S. importers should be much better than last season.
During the 2015-16 season, Chile exported a total of almost 85.5 million 18-pound equivalent boxes of table grapes. While there are no official estimates for 2016-17, table grape production is expected to be around 90 million boxes. The main variety out of Chile is globe, with global exports of more than 28 million boxes, followed by crimson with 18 million, thompson seedless with 16 million and flame seedless with 8.5 million boxes.
The Chilean grape season started a little earlier than normal, and by the week of Dec. 19th, Chile had shipped nearly 47,000 tons of grapes to the U.S. This compares with just 12,600 tons last season.
As of January 10th, the South American country had shipped 91 percent more than the same time last year; — 78,629 tons compared to 41,035 tons. Flame seedless, sugraone and thompson seedless were the main varieties that had shipped.
Total volume will be similar to last year and if not higher, although a significant difference will be in timing of U.S. imports, with the season starting and ending sooner than last season. In essence, Chilean grape availability will be condensed to about an eight to 10-week timeframe compared to the normal 10-12 week interval.
Heavy volume of imports are expected in the next two months from Chile’s southern region.
There were heavy rains in Chile last December the northern growing regions where early season grapes were the most affected, with some damage to flames and sugraones.
Still there is a 250 percent increase year-to-date in volume over last year, with a lot of loading opportunities coming at U.S. ports in February and March.
By contrast, Peruvian grape imports have fallen short of pre-season expectations while Chile is harvesting at a record rate, especially with red grapes.
One importer indicated that so far this year, there have been 16.3 million cases combined between Peru and Chile season-to-date compared to 12.7 million last year.
Texas grapefruit shipments will increase significantly this season; Chilean grape imports are coming soon; while domestic apple loadings will be down in double digits.Texas grapefruit shipments account for about 75 percent of Texas’ citrus production, with oranges comprising most of the rest. Last season, Texas shipped 452,000 cartons, which is expected to increase to 580,000 in 2015-16. Unlike recent years, when the drought in the Lower Rio Grande Valley adversely affected production, this year there has been an abundance of rain.
Lower Rio Grande Valley citrus and imported Mexican mixed veggies, fruit and tomatoes – grossing about $2600 to Chicago.
Chilean Fruit Imports
As the Chilean summer fruit season gets underway, table grapes once again will be the leading commodity imported by the U.S. Last year, Chile shipped 356,691 tons of grapes to the U.S.
Last year, Chilean growers shipped 356,691 tons of grapes to the U.S. First arrivals to the U.S. will come in mid December, but significant volume will not happen until the New Year.
Apple Shipments
Washington’s apple shipments are declining in volume and the amount of apples in storage nationwide are also down. Washington’s fresh crop is now estimated at 116.2 million, 40-pound boxes, down about 1.5 percent from a month ago and about 18 percent from the final 2014 record season of 141.8 million boxes.
Yakima and Wenatchee Valley apple shippers have sold 19.6 million boxes of apples compared with 23.6 million a year ago and that leaves 96.6 million boxes to sell throughout the year. This compares to 118.2 million a year ago.
Nationally, there are 117.3 million, 42-pound boxes in storage, a 19 percent decrease from record inventories a year ago.
Michigan apple shipments – $3200 to Dallas.
Washington apple shipments – grossing about $4550 to Chicago.
There’s a possible California freeze damaging cold front barreling in from Canada that will hit the citrus shipping region of California’s San Joaquin Valley the nights of New Years Eve and New Years night….Additionally, here’s an update on loading opportunities for imported Chilean fruit.
A winter storm racing into the central San Joaquin Valley from Canada could bring temperatures of 26-27 degrees F. the nights of December 31st and January 1st, although forecasters are saying this could change as the storm nears. If the forecast holds, growers will likely begin irrigating on Wednesday to help warm the ground and protect trees. Wind machines will be turned on at night to mix the air and prevent cold pockets from forming.
Approximately 75 percent of the orange and mandarin crops have yet to be harvested. Navel oranges can withstand about four hours of 28-degree temperatures with little or no damage. However, mandarins are more sensitive, and even 32 degrees can be damaging to them.
If damage does occur, it typically takes days, if not weeks to assess how serious it was.
Chilean Fruit Imports
Apart from some recent rains that affected cherry volumes, weather conditions have been favorable for this season. Volume increases are predicted for Chilean fruit commodities, even cherries. This would be in stark contrast to the large volume decreases in 2013-14 due to severe frosts in the South American country. Exports of Chilean blueberries are expected to show a huge increase of 30 percent over last season, with volume exceeding 200 million pounds. An estimated 70 percent of exports come to North America. In the overall grape category, increases are seen for all varieties. Chilean grape imports will increase significantly in January, February and March.