U.S. table grape inventories have decreased significantly over recent weeks from their record high and are now in line with what would typically be expected at this time of year.

As the packing of table grapes is South Africa’s late region continues to dwindle, it appears that this year’s total shipments could be below last year’s figure.

South African table grape company in2fruit Fresh Marketing Concepts has sealed a deal to export fruit to Vietnam.

South African table grape industry organisation SATI has for some time been exploring ideas on how to best develop the position of South African table grapes in China.

The United States Department of Agriculture recently published a forecast of the global production and export of table grapes in the 2019-2020 season, predicting an increase of 4%, to 23.4 million tons

The production in the southern hemisphere is in full swing. Prices in the wholesale market are good, as there is a smaller volume to trade.

Rain over the weekend in the Hex River Valley has brought packing to a standstill as growers assess damage and the need for post-rain spraying programmes, which have implications regarding withholding periods, so that packing will resume by Thursday or Friday this week – unless it rains again tomorrow, in which case packing can only resume next week.

Namibia and South Africa are now shipping their table grapes to the European market, while the North American market is mainly supplied by Peru, Chile and California.

The Netherlands: Grape market is under pressure due to large supply in a short period of time.

From one of the world’s most beautiful, diverse and naturally abundant countries also originate some of the world’s tastiest grapes.

Like the rest of the global agricultural sector, the table grape industry has had to face a variety of challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic this past year, including soaring freight costs, labor shortfalls, worldwide shipping delays and refrigerated container shortages.

Over the last 10 years, the table grape industry has shown great dynamism, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.

Despite some initial concerns about quality due to adverse weather conditions in many production countries, grape cultivations in Spain and India seem to be relatively unaffected, whereas Italy has seen some of the feared damage.

While it has not see the explosive trade growth as some other popular fruits like blueberries, mandarins and avocados, global table grape imports have been rising at a steady pace over recent years.

Grapes remain a popular fruit among families in many countries, with over 62% of families purchasing them in Italy and Australia.