Golden Wing Mau Report on grape Week 21, 2015

All grape varieties continue to be on the decline, with between 15-20 containers opening daily as arrivals consist of mostly Red Globe. Other seedless varieties were limited, with Crimson the second most available grape although in short supply. Local grape production from Yunnan has begun to come online, with black, green and red varieties available. The market for Chilean Red Globe remained stable in week 21, with the price range of fruit remaining large as some of the poorest fruit priced at ¥70 (XL, 8.2kg) as the best arrivals with a strong buyer following and good quality priced at up to ¥180 (XL, 8.2kg). Most of the available fruits from Chile moved between the range ¥140-160 with poorer fruit priced at ¥140-145 and the better quality moving at between ¥155-160. The best fruit opening with bright green stems, well covered bloom and firm well colored berries could move when priced at a premium of ¥10- 20, while other arrivals with green stem showed other combinations of issues be it firmness, decay, bleaching or taste. In all there was a mixture of different qualities and conditions available. Chilean Red Globe was relatively in line with last year’s exports at +7% with a total of 9.2 million cartons departing in total with only 70k cartons departed in week 20.

Crimson overall continued to return good results in the market as supply remains on its final legs from both Australia and Chile. Australian and Chilean produce remained in a similar price range as in week 20 with movement slowing as a result of high asking prices. Australian produce with a good first impression showing consistently brightly colored berries, and little concern continued to move at between ¥330-350 (9kg) as fruits showing different combinations of quality or less visually pleasing packing priced at lower levels but mostly above ¥300 (9kg). Low quality Chilean Crimson continued to see most arrivals pricing above ¥200 (XL, 8.2kg), as most fruit could move at between ¥240-270 (XL, 8.2kg). Some arrivals pushing for higher returns but sacrificing movement. Chilean Crimson exports to China and Hong Kong finished at 578k cartons up over 17% compared to last year, however still below the 2013/2014 volumes. Although exports closed higher at 17%, exports earlier in the season were at times notably up at over 40-60% year on year. These levels however came down possibly due to price levels not being favorable

Autumn Royal remained in a similar market situation with limited fruit available on the market, with the best fruit available being chased by buyers selling for between ¥270-290 (XL, 8.2kg) while most fruit continuing to showing any number of different quality issues priced between ¥230-250 (XL, 8.2kg). Chilean Autumn Royal to date has seen roughly 520k cartons exported to China and Hong Kong, this represents a decrease of 25% to 28% compared to the previous two years. Although it is difficult to determine the extent different factors played in the decreased in Chinese volumes, the decrease of 10% (220k cartons) in total exports from Chile is likely one of the key factors.