Country Update

India: Strong demand for Valencia oranges still being experienced from a Tridge perspective, with W37 seeing a demand for more containers, however disparity between Tridge payment terms and supplier payment terms resulted in deals being dropped.

Pricing to India was at $13.50 CIF, a $0.10 increase due to the weakening of the rand against the dollar. Feedback from the Tridge Team in India is that market prices there for SA oranges is between $17.60 -$18.00 for the current week.

Middle-East: No citrus sent to Middle-East, feedback from the Saudi Arabia team is that large volumes of oranges are being shipped from UAE to Saudi Arabia, causing a drop in market prices being experienced and subsequently less demand for SA oranges from buyers.

China: Demand for SA oranges is relatively strong from a Tridge perspective, with some containers heading for China in week 38. Price offering from suppliers for this fruit is at $14.00, with the general trend being $14.50

EU: The CGA imposed a voluntary moratorium on Valencia exports to the EU, as part of the citrus black spot risk mitigation strategy. This has resulted in no volumes or offers from suppliers for week 37.

Product Update

Citrus: The South African citrus season is entering the last two weeks of the 2022 campaign, with some volumes still available, it is anticipated that this will taper down as the season wraps-up.

Apples: Week 37 saw a strong demand for Cripps Red apples to Vietnam, with 3FCL being shipped out, and further FCL being dispatched week 38. Price trends and offers to Tridge: week 26: $24.00 and in week 37 $22.50 – the drop is price is mainly due to good GOM – supplier relations. However, this price trend may not be sustainable due to increase in freighting on the SA-Asia shipping route.

Blueberries: Not much demand from Tridge buyers experienced in week 37, this is still attributed to the price disparity reflected in week 36, which has carried over to this week. Engagement with suppliers is however ongoing in order to find a closer price offering to market requirements. Blueberry volumes still increasing as the season ramps up.

Strawberries: Week 37 saw a slight increase in demand from markets especially from the Middle-East market, with pricing being at $8-9 a kg (1kg, 2.5kg & 5kg cartons) offered by suppliers to Tridge for the Middle-East market. As the strawberry campaign for the 2022 season ramps-up it is expected that more offers will be available and a downward change in price as volumes increase. Engagements with suppliers indicated that the largest demand for SA strawberries is from the Middle-East, with the UAE taking up a lot of the volumes. As it is still early season, figures for exported volumes are not yet available.

Week 36 export volumes

• Europe: air: 62.95 tons / sea: 533.20 tons
• Far East: air: 174.93 tons / sea 99.74 tons
• Indian Ocean Islands: air: 3.94 tons / sea 0
• Middle-East: air: 152.96 tons / sea: 111.63
• Russian Federation: air/sea: 0
• United Kingdom: air: 37.68 tons / sea: 401.11 tons
• North America: air/sea 0
• Total: air:432.46 / Sea: 1145.68

Expert's Commentary

The focus shift will be from citrus to table grapes, with the SA 2022/23 season due to commence in November. It is anticipated that market demands for SA table grapes will surpass the 2021/22 campaign. Volumes estimates for the 2022/23 season are expected to be released towards the end of September. It is, however anticipated that logistics, especially port efficiency, shipping, and container management, will be a focal point during the upcoming season