South Africa’s table grape production down

The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) has announced estimates for the season in progress of between 12.2% and 18% lower than the 2016/2017 season. The loss in production is due to the lack of rain and extreme heat in the Western Cape. South Africa’s producers and exporters expect harvesting to continue with close to normal export volumes for the next 4 to 6 weeks. However, they foresee a shorter harvest period compared to previous years due to the drought and hotter than usual temperatures. Producers are still committed to fulfilling their programmes. The estimate, in Table 1 below, was reached by considering the experience and observations.