The Indian grape harvest has been underway for a few weeks, but with big volumes from Peru and South Africa causing a weak European market, traders are waiting before shipping there.
Nagesh Shetty from Deccan Produce said they have been shipping to the Russian market since before Christmas but are now shipping less. “The Russian market was very good pre-Christmas but since the holidays the market has been difficult, and I expect it to stay difficult for a while. There are a lot of Indian grapes around.”
“It is still a little too early to ship to Europe as the market is full of Peruvian and South African product, we will start shipping there in a couple of weeks, with the first grapes arriving week 7 or 8 when we hope the market will be better. The procurement price in India is still high but will get better as bigger volumes become available.”
Deccan will ship mainly white seedless to Europe but will also do some mixed punnets of Thompson and Flame varieties.
According to Nagesh a lot of exporters are talking about the Chinese market and there is a lot of interest in Indian grapes from there. “It could be a positive new frontier for Indian grapes, but the main volumes will still go to Russia and Europe, we may send some to China later in the season. The quality of grapes this season is very good and there are good volumes, but exports will be determined by market demand.”
