Chilean kiwifruit exports are expected to grow by 7% this season

The president of the Kiwi Committee of Frutas de Chile, Carlos Cruzat, says that, as in every season, the organization has carried out an evaluation of the volumes at the end of the harvests, which has led to a re-estimation of this year’s shipments.

“After reviewing the total volume harvested, we saw that our production has been 7% greater than initially estimated in March, before the harvest started. At that point, we had expected to export 130,000 tons. The delay in the season has thus had a positive impact, as it has allowed the fruit to grow larger and heavier, so exports have been re-estimated at 139,000 tons,” says Cruzat.

The agronomist recalls that the kiwi season started 12 days later than usual, as was also the case with other fruits. He also says that the new estimate of 139,000 tons corresponds to the country’s productive base today, based on the number of hectares planted and in full production.

He also says that “all the kiwifruit producing areas reported increases in their volumes compared to previous estimates, except for the northern area of the O’Higgins region, which recorded a drop.”

As far as the development of kiwi exports this season is concerned, the President of the Committee commented that total shipments up to week 23 of 2024 amounted to 77,023 tons. “The United States, as well as Europe and Latin America, have been very active kiwifruit markets; however, markets in the Far East have been less active compared to the previous season, with a significant drop in China.”

Carlos Cruzat also says that “our conventional fruit campaign is over and now we are moving on to the fruit stored in chambers. In any case, the more than 77,000 tons exported to date should represent little more than 50% of the volume of fruit that we’ll be shipping to different destinations around the world this season.”

Lastly, the representative of the Committee said that, in the future, they hope “to surpass the 139,000 tons of exports, since new kiwi plantations that were planted recently are going to come into commercial production.”

Source: Fresh Plaza

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