- Thailand’s winter pineapple crop is delayed due to the prolonged period of drought.
- The supply from both Thailand’s summer and winter crops will total just below 1.2m tonnes.
- On a good year, they would produce in excess of 2m tonnes…
A Quick Production Update
- Kenya and Tanzania’s forthcoming seasons will run from October to February.
- The focus will be on producing high-quality pineapple in both purée and concentrated form.
- Smooth Cayenne and MD2 will be the main varieties produced.
- Demand will likely come from high-demand regions such as the EU, the USA, and the Middle East.
- It may also come from duty-advantage areas such as EAC and COMESA.
EAC – East African Community
COMESA – Burundi, Comoros, Congo, Dem Rep., Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Looking Ahead…
- Thailand’s 2020 winter pineapple crop is delayed this year, mostly due to their prolonged period of drought.
- The supply from both Thailand’s summer and winter crops will total just below 1.2m tonnes.
- On a good year, Thailand can produce more than 2m tonnes, so processors are bound to suffer as a result of this shortfall.
- Farmers were forced to harvest small unripe fruit during the summer crop, which could lead to high nitrate-levels and a darker colour of processed pineapple.
- The fresh and canned market is strong, which limits processors’ access to competitive supplies in Thailand, and prices should stay high until next March.
- If so, alternative supplies could be available in regions such as the Philippines, with an average production of 2.5 million tonnes, and Costa Rica, leading the production with 3.1m tonnes.
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