Cranberry shipments reach record levels in 9 week and reach 107 a thousand tons

14/03/2018

During this 9 week, 107.229 tons of exported blueberries were totaled, which marks a record number for the industry, which still has not finished, and which exceeds the previous season by more than one 3%.

Due to better fruit development and good harvesting conditions, the blueberry season has surpassed all estimates made last October, when a campaign was projected that would be around 102 thousand tons.

According to the latest Crop Report - a weekly report carried out by iQonsulting with the Cranberry Committee - in the 9 week, 2.745 tons were completed, totaling a record of 107.229 tons of exported blueberries.

It is a 3,4% more than what was sent last season, when 103.716 tons were exported, to which we must add that the current campaign is not over yet.

«The greater production and export is due to multiple factors, but without a doubt, the absence of frost in spring and the mild climate with little rain in the period of development of fruits and harvest, contributed to have a season very close to the productive potential«, indicates the report.

Given this, the US market, the most important for Chilean blueberries, has reacted positively, which has allowed to maintain demand firmly, something that has also been observed in other markets.

To date, the distribution of shipments per market is 63,6% for North America; 23,8% for Europe and 12,1% for Asia.

On the other hand, the exports of fresh organic blueberries of the week 9 totaled 260 tons, which represents a share of 9,5% of the total exported during this period.

Finally, the Crop Report highlights the significant increase in production that has been registered in different areas of the country. «The northern zone, already finished, ended with a volume above the estimated 45%. The northern center zone would end with a volume similar to the estimate, but the entire southern area will surpass the estimates«says the report.

Source: Portal del Campo