Argentina wrapped up its season with export volumes 16% lower than forecast and having fetched far lower prices in the U.S. market than last year due to heavy volumes from Peru.
The volume drop is largely due to poor weather conditions, according to Fedefiroc Bayá of the Argentinean Blueberry Committee (ABC).
Baya spoke to Fresh Fruit Portal about how the season developed, challenges within the industry, and the country’s first blueberry export to China.
On the oversupply in the U.S. market over recent months, he said that “the appearance of Peru in the market has really changed the conditions”.
“If we look at the window that Argentina has from late August to the end of December, the prices have dropped 20% in the U.S. This is because of the greater pressure of the Peruvian supply, which surpassed 40,000 metric tons (MT) in 2017 and approached 65,000MT is 2018, growing around 50%.
24/01/2019
