Good demand pushes the season
Timothy Taffe brings to detail the pulse of Copiapó. Taffe is chairman of the Copiapó River Surveillance Board and executive of the Agrofruta exporter. In about three more weeks, the first boxes of table grapes of the season should leave from that northern valley. Those fruits will be the first concrete signal that Chilean farmers will have of how the hand for the fruit exports of the 2015-2016 campaign comes, an industry that already exports almost US $ 4.000 million.
In the market there is fear about the production of Copiapó. In March, a flood swept through about 700 hectares and, as if that were not enough, in July a snowfall fell that threw several table grape barracks in the highest part of the valley.
«Va a haber una merma en la producción, pero no va a ser tan significativa como se temía. En el valle hay un replante de unas 500 a 600 hectáreas anuales de uva de mesa. Además, todos los problemas relevantes de riego de fruta de exportación se resolvieron. Los huertos caídos por la nevazón se han recuperado en forma parcial. Los agricultores de Copiapó vamos a salir adelante este año», Taffe says.
The leader believes that, from the traditional 10,5 millions of boxes of table grapes, Copiapo would go to about 9,5 millions to 10 millions of boxes in the 2015-2016 season.
Los volúmenes que salgan de Copiapó son relevantes, pues como ha ocurrido en los últimos años una baja en la oferta tiende a «trancar» la venta, pues los supermercados de EE.UU., el principal mercado, le destinan poco espacio. Situación que se acentúa cuando llegan los grandes volúmenes de la zona central. Por eso la caída moderada del valle nortino hace prever una comercialización menos compleja de lo que se temía.
In any case, the demand for fruits that open the season, such as table grapes, cherries and blueberries, is very strong.
«El consumo de Estados Unidos por fruta fresca está muy activo y se nota el mayor interés de las cadenas de retail. Además, la demanda de fruta en China es cada vez más fuerte, a pesar de las noticias de problemas bursátiles. Un ejemplo es el crecimiento de las exportaciones de arándanos a ese mercado, desplazando embarques que antes iban a Estados Unidos», says Manuel José Alcaíno, president of Decofrut.
The only exception to this positive picture are the pitfalls, which see how the sum of problems in the quality of the Chilean offer and the difficulties in entering China could cause mediocre or directly negative results.
Blueberries with clear path
Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States, is in a personal crusade to improve the diet of her fellow citizens. One of the central points of his battle is to increase the per capita consumption of fruit. That is why he did not hesitate to spread his recipe to make blueberry cake. The berry has become the fruit symbol of healthy eating.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the demand in that market for Chilean blueberries rises every year. And this season is no exception. With two relevant aggregates. In the first place, the production of Argentina, which comes out before Chile, fell close to 20% due to frost and hail. In simple terms, that means that there is a more underserved international market that will welcome the arrival of the Chilean offer.
Second, Chinese importers have been very active this season. If the United States usually took close to 90% of Chilean exports of fresh blueberries, last year it fell to less than 80%, basically due to China's largest purchases. Everything indicates that this phenomenon will be accentuated in this campaign, as consumers in that country value foods associated with good health.
In this scenario, the big winners are blueberry producers, who should enjoy good prices.
Now regarding the high volatility of the climate and the scare for the damages of eventual rains in spring and summer, due to the El Niño phenomenon, Isabel Quiroz puts cold cloths on her.
«Los arándanos son una especie de clima frío y lluvioso, por ello no habrá tanto impacto en las exportaciones. Los productores realizarán sus cosechas al ritmo de las posibles lluvias. Los pronósticos, al menos a 10 días, son muy certeros y se puede programar la cosecha», says the executive.
Source: Revista del Campo
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