Despite the current
unfavourable
climatic conditions
perishable product
volumes have turned out to
be better than expected, says
Lucien Jansen, chief executive
officer of the PPECB.
“For the past year the
industry has been severely
challenged by the drought.
This has resulted in reduced
export volumes (in terms of
cartons), mainly due to smaller
and lighter fruit,” he said.
But despite this volumes
were not as low as was
anticipated.
“Due to the dry weather
conditions, product quality
has generally been good,” said
Jansen. “The relevant product
(mainly grapes and stone fruit)
volumes presented to the
PPECB for inspection with
the intention to export were
only 0.8% lower than volumes
recorded for the previous
season.”
He said it was still too early
to compare other product
volumes, as some of the
product seasons had only just
started or had not yet ended.
“It is believed that less
than favourable weather
conditions will continue for
the next year or so. This will
put further pressure on an
already battling industry, as
below par volumes are again
anticipated, resulting in
reduced return,” he said.
Commenting on market
trends, he said Europe
remained the country’s
biggest export market with
nearly 50% of all the country’s
fresh fruit going there up
until the 2015 season.
“The Asian market remains
attractive and over the past
five years we have seen a
6.5% year-on-year growth in
fresh fruit exports to Asia,”
Jansen told FTW. “Fresh fruit
exports to these markets have
increased by 28% from 2011
to 2015 – and we believe that
this trend will continue over
the medium term.”
He said much was being
done in the country to keep
abreast of the latest trends
and developments
“By ensuring compliance
with relevant requirements
– national or international
– the PPECB is committed
to supporting the
competitiveness of the South
African perishable product
industry,” said Jansen.
Perishable volumes 'better than expected'
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