South African apple exports are up as much as 17% to Europe, and 32% for the UK (end of June), while pear exports are down between 11% and 18%. “We’re down on the previous year but the previous year was a record. It was still a good enough crop, so it’s all still relative,“ explains Jacques Du Preez, of Hortgro The South African pear export is more than 90% complete, and apples are around 60% complete, with 40% left to go for exports.
Prices for both apples and pears were down in foreign currency terms, with the Rand weak against the major currencies, according to Du Preez. “With prices the mitigating factor was the weak exchange rate. Compared to last year the Rand is currently 6% down on the pound. And last year was down on the previous year.”
Storage, eating quality help growers compete
What has helped is that all the fruit in storage has been selling well, Du Preez said. “The good thing is the fruit moved better than anticipated up to now. Also apparently the quality of the stored northern hemisphere stuff wasn’t that good.”
The eating quality and good storage has helped South African growers to get the edge over South American competitors who usually compete fiercely on price, particularly for apples, according to Du Preez. “Last year Chile out competed us on early apples to the UK, but it seems that this is not the case this season” The shipping time to major export partners helps growers compete with New Zealand too. “We are just a bit more than two weeks away and with New Zealand shipping times so much longer it can impact their quality and pricing structures,” added Du Preez.
There were less pears to export overall, with volumes down about 6%, but numbers to the Middle East and Africa did increase slightly, Du Preez confirmed. “Year on year we are sending more and more into Africa, although still at relatively small volumes. That’s true for apples as well. At this stage the bulk of our apples have gone to the UK, followed by the Far East and Asia. Africa is number three at the moment with most of the export going there to be sent from now until the end of the year." Overall Africa took around 32% of pome exports last year. “Towards October we finish in the UK but Africa keeps on going right through until next year. Last year Africa was our biggest export market and it looks like we’re already ahead of last year, so we are hoping it can only get better.”
China is a new market for South African growers, and Du Preez said that it has been 'so far so good' from a few shipments sent to test the waters there. Fuji & Gala were the main cultivars shipped thus far, according to him. “ The industry is still experiencing renewal and expansion of orchards so we’ve got a number of younger orchards that will start coming into production in the next five years. I don’t think they will be specific to one market. Some growers will prefer certain markets but I don’t think they’ll produce any specifically for China. It all depends on your production, cultivar and export profile."
The strategy when it comes to new plantings seems to be to spread risk, and offering, but club varieties do well, Du Preez said. “More plantings gives you more options.”
