According to information provided by the Chilean Blueberry Committee-ASOEX, in its latest Crop Report, the southern zone of Chile is taking more prominence, with the harvests already in the peak period.

“Last week the harvest work was interrupted by light to medium intensity rains from the Araucanía to the South. Meanwhile, the south central zone continues to harvest with decreasing volumes ”, the Committee specifies in its report.

It should be noted that shipments for week 02 reached 7.754 tons, a figure that was lower than expected, since part of this volume was attributed to the following week as the effect of the delay of a ship that should have sailed on Sunday.

As for the accumulated to date, the outflows maintain the trend of lower volume compared to the previous season, showing a fall of 4,6%, with 74.742 total tons of blueberries dispatched to date.

The drop in conventional blueberries, contrasts with what happens with organic blueberry exports, which register an increase in their shipments of 11% more than last season.

Likewise, the Committee informs that the export table and graphs continue to show week 53 of the 2019/20 season with zero volumes, "which will be corrected shortly, so that the information can be comparable between both seasons."

Destinations

In relation to destination markets, North America received 46% of the volumes exported in week 02, Europe 40% and the Far East 13%. Of these markets, Europe is the only one that has shown growth in shipments compared to the previous season, with an increase of 13%, while North America has fallen by 9% and the Far East by 27%.

Harvest Status

North Zone (IV and V Regions): The harvest is finished.

Central Zone (RM and VI Regions): The season is over.

South Central Zone (VII, XVI and VIII Regions):  The harvest is focused on the last volumes of Legacy and Rabbiteye varieties that are the bulk at the moment. This week high temperatures were recorded, which could affect the quality of some more sensitive varieties, which could lead to a higher volume to the industry.

South Zone (IX, X and XIV Regions): The harvest progresses interrupted by light to medium intensity rains that affected the work this week. The bulk is focused on Legacy, while Duke already shows declining volumes.