<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Chile -</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">01.08.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Table grape loadings from Chile through Week 52 continued to run much lighter than last season with total Chilean table grape departures to all markets decreasing to 38,88 metric tons, illustrating a decline of 31.2%, when compared to the same date last year. Total grape loadings to the USEC are down 33% and down 21.9% to the USWC.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/MarketReport01.jpg" alt="01082013" /></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>There are a number of factors resulting in the lighter loadings, including a grape crop that is running later than last season, an early Flame crop that is consistently sizing smaller, and water shortages in some early producing sectors that have decreased production. The product of the lighter loadings is a grape market where demand is not being met and selling prices are still high, especially for red seedless varieties that are harder to come by.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Accordingly, the white seedless market belongs to Chilean Sugarones and Thompson Seedless. In week 1, white seedless grapes sold at $30-34 on the relatively light, post- New year movement. Chilean white seedless arrival volumes will increase a bit in week 2. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The market demand for red seedless grapes is high and will probably remain that way through the weekend; as the 500,000 cases of Flame that will arrive during the course of Week 1 will simply not be enough to meet customer demand.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Today, Flames are available on the spot market at US $36-40 on very light volumes. Pre-committed fruit is selling at US $32-34. But with USEC Flame availability expected to double to nearly 1 million cases in Week 2, and arrivals expected to continue to climb from there, we will see some easing of the Flame spot market price by Week 3," according to the report by Mark Greenberg, Capespan North America.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">On the whole, small capacity continues to be a concern with the Flames from Chile’s northern growing regions and the problem will continue until the Flames from the Aconcagua hit the market around the end of January.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">With Flames in short supply, one would be predisposed to think that Red Globe prices would remain stable. But that was not the case. Through the holiday season, Peruvian Red Globes had been trading at US $24-26. In the first week, the market dropped to US $22-24, mostly around US $22.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>North America continues to be, by far, the largest market in the world for Chilean grapes, with 46% of 2011/12 Chilean grape exports coming to this market, according to the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association. Looking at the fruit category, table grapes are Chile's largest export crop, representing 32% of all fruit exported.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Karen Brux, Managing Director for North America, Chilean Fresh Fruit Association, sees growth opportunities for Chilean fruit in North America, noting, "We believe there are still significant opportunities to increase consumption of the entire Chilean fruit basket, and have built an integrated marketing program to both encourage retail promotion and generate stronger consumer demand. This includes tagged TV advertising, in-store radio to reach consumers in the produce department with key product messages, targeted retail merchandising support, participation in numerous tradeshows and category research. Promotions will continue throughout the season, with a team of merchandisers spanning North America to support retailers in their marketing of Chilean fresh fruit. Our marketing programs are supported by ProChile, the Trade Commission of Chile."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">At the last minute, the US east coast port strike that had threatened to begin on December 29, 2012 was avoided with the help of the US Mediation and Conciliation Service. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the employer group US Maritime Alliance (USMX) have settled on extending the time for completion of contract negotiations to January 28, 2013. According to Mark Greenberg's market report, USMX and the ILA have agreed in principle on the crucial issue of container royalty payments and they remain confident that they will be able to settle the remaining issues during the 30-day extension.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
