14 December, 2017 – The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) released the 2nd Crop Estimate for the 2017/18 table grape season with a lower estimate of between 55,4 million and 60,3 million cartons, mainly caused by a lower estimate for the Orange River Region. The estimate has been lowered mainly due to delayed ripening and lower bunch weight.
The South African table grape season started normally from the earliest Northern Provinces Region. The Orange River region has seen a delay of between 7-10 days in the ripening of grapes with lighter bunch weights.
The next couple of weeks of packing will be shorter due to the public holidays over the Christmas period. Industry experts expect that despite the delay in ripening, fruit will not be delivered in peaks but will be evenly spread throughout the coming weeks.
The extreme heat during week 49 caused damage to grapes in parts of the Olifants River region. This region also saw a further cutback in water allocations, which has been accounted for in the updated estimate.
The estimate for the Berg River and Hex River regions remains the same at this point with the possible effect of the drought already accounted for. It is still too early to make an accurate prediction of the harvest in the last two regions.
Willem Bestbier, Chief Executive Officer of SATI, said producers advised us they will endeavour to meet programs and contracted business while focusing on the well-known South African quality offering and taste.
Crop estimates are done in co-operation with industry experts who are in close contact with growers in all regions, with the expectation that the best information available was used. This structure enables SATI to be more responsive to in-season developments and deviations.
The estimate, in the table below, was reached by considering the experience and observations of the group of experts, the latest industry vine census and historical data.
| SATI SECOND CROP ESTIMATE 2017/2018 SEASON | |||||||||
| REGION | SECOND CROP
ESTIMATE |
FIRST CROP ESTIMATE
03 NOVEMBER 2017 |
ACTUAL PACKED VOLUMES | ||||||
| SEASON | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | 2016/2017 | 2015/2016 | 2014/2015 | 2013/2014 | 2012/2013 |
| Northern Provinces | 6 000 000 | 6 500 000 | 6 000 000 | 6 500 000 | 5 537 784 | 4 730 931 | 4 510 726 | 4 083 599 | 4 155 648 |
| Orange River | 18 500 000 | 19 800 000 | 18 500 000 | 20 000 000 | 20 532 515 | 18 642 605 | 17 686 726 | 15 118 961 | 16 039 382 |
| Olifants River | 2 500 000 | 3 000 000 | 2 500 000 | 3 000 000 | 3 968 073 | 3 157 059 | 3 788 287 | 3 121 056 | 2 725 942 |
| Berg River | 11 200 000 | 12 500 000 | 11 200 000 | 12 500 000 | 15 426 175 | 12 599 726 | 13 062 448 | 11 379 002 | 12 672 168 |
| Hex River | 17 200 000 | 18 500 000 | 17 200 000 | 18 500 000 | 22 110 612 | 18 849 218 | 20 331 091 | 16 846 196 | 18 286 725 |
| TOTAL | 55 400 000 | 60 300 000 | 55 400 000 | 60 500 000 | 67 575 159 | 57 979 539 | 59 379 279 | 50 548 814 | 53 879 865 |
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