South African table grape intakes up with exports down significantly

The South African table grape industry has packed over 6 million more cartons year-on-year, but has shipped 5.2 million cartons fewer to international markets. The delays in the Port of Cape Town remain challenging, with the situation showing some improvement, although still too slow given the peak shipping weeks that are still ahead. Exports to the EU up to week three are down over 3 million cartons year-on-year while the U.K. is seeing a decrease of 1.3 million cartons. The first crop estimate remains unchanged with the Northern Provinces and Olifants River regions that will, due to challenging weather conditions, likely only reach the lower limits of the estimate. SATI estimates an intake volume range of between 70.6 million and 77.7 million cartons, with the mid-point at 74.2 million cartons, which is close to the volume packed during the 2020/2021 season. The three largest regions namely the Orange, Berg and Hex River are all expected to reach and possibly even slightly ...