Crop and Export Report 2020, Week 12

In this issue we close the 2019/20 Chilean blueberry season which faced a lot of challenges during its course.

An increase of 4% in the exports compared to previous campaign was the initial estimate for this season, expecting to reach 115,000 tons. As expected, the output of varieties with short post-harvest life was limited but on the other hand the increase in the planted area with renewed varieties supported the estimated increase in exports.

The season developed in a very similar way to the previous year, despite having faced major social revolts since October 2019, which did not have a great impact since port operations were maintained with minimal inconveniences and on the other hand, total normality in the in the harvest labors. There was more volume at the beginning of the season from the north of the country as an effect of varietal renewal in that area.

Due to the Coronavirus in China, that market didn’t present any activity for at least 3 weeks after the Chinese New Year, affecting a portion of containers arrived on those days.

Finally, the last weeks had a drop in the exported volumes compared to previous seasons, due to the high temperatures that altered the dynamics of the harvests, making them more concentrated. Finally, the shipments up to date reached 109,291 tons exported, slightly less than the volumes shipped the previous season (1.5% less).

Although the Chilean blueberry season is coming to an end, the exports continue although with low volumes, only 290 tons were shipped in week 11, which will continue to decline. Of the total volume exported by Chile, North America received 52% of the volume, Europe 32% and the Far East 15%. In terms of variation, North America faced the biggest adjustment this season, with shipments 11% lower than in 2018/19. On the contrary, Europe increased by 8% and the Far East by 20%.

On the other hand, organic blueberries continued with the growing trend and reported a record of 15,470 tons exported until week 11, 16% more than the previous season. Although North America received 77% of the volumes, with an 11% growth compared to last season, there were important drops in the export volumes to that region in the last weeks of the season. On the other hand, Europe concentrated 23% of organic exports with a growth of 41%.

We hope you are well and that you can spend the coming weeks in the best possible way to meet us again next season.