Braeburn Exports of significantly lower

There is a significant decrease in exports of Braeburn apples from New Zealand.

Pipfruit NZ, the organization of industry professionals for apples and pears, said Braeburn production for export will be less than 3 million boxes (54,000 tons) in 2012. This represents a reduction of 27% compared to last year's harvest which exceeded 4 million cartons.

The volumes shipped have been in steady decline for several seasons. Pipfruit reports that in 2005 the volumes shipped reached 8 million cartons. This decline can be explained by bad weather this year and also by the rate of the high New Zealand dollar. Producers prefer to sell their crops to processors rather than providing the export market.

source : pipfruit nz