New Zealand aims to build on more stable apple deal: Pipfruit New Zealand's chief executive officer Peter Beaven talks to Trade NZ about the main trends of the recent apple season and the outlook for the future

摘要

HOW would you summarise the 2006 New Zealand apple export season and what is the overall mood like in the industry? The Southern Hemisphere supply season was orderly and stable in all major markets. Growers did okay but certainly did not recoup the losses from 2005. What volume of apples did New Zealand export to which markets last season and how did this compare with previous years? Total exports reached 279,000 tonnes, down from 331,000 tonnes in 2005. The market breakout was as follows with last year's percentages in brackets: 22 per cent to the UK (20 per cent), 42 per cent to the rest of Europe (51 percent), 15 per cent to Asia (13 percent) and 16 per cent to North America (12 per cent). Trading conditions were good on account of several factors. The European crop was moving well and volume sales were good leading into the Southern Hemisphere supply season. The same applied in North America. The only market that was a little more difficult was Taiwan because the US sent a lot of fruit there after the second codling moth discovery and it took quite a while to clear. All Southern Hemisphere supply countries exported lowervolumes, in particular Brazil and Argentina in the early season. Exchange rates were more favourable for us than in 2005.