The harvest of Star Ruby and Navels in the Northern region of South Africa is going to be around two and half weeks later than normal according to Gary Britz from Ele Trading. "A lot of the fruit is still green so we are waiting to get a bit of colour in it. It has been cooler today so that should help the colouration."
"Everyone is waiting for the Star Ruby because the market is looking very good this season. The crop is definitely down and the packouts will be down as there is a lot of hail and heat damage. It will be as much as 40-50% less compared to last year. I don't expect the harvest to start until 18th of May, two and half weeks later than last year. The sizes though are pretty good, we have the whole range of sizes from 35-55s, but it does vary from farm to farm," according to Gary.
He goes on to say that demand in China and Japan is huge with very good prices and Europe will also have a big demand.
