The Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) has issued a statement saying while there may be isolated cases of growers seeing significant crop losses following recent frosts, the 2014-15 export season will be a normal one. 

Last week Special T co-owner Gonzalo Ruiz-Tagle told www.freshfruitportal.com unexpected frosts on Oct. 8-9 across southern production regions had caused him to suffer 30-100% crop losses for fruits including apples, blueberries, kiwifruit and cherries

He added the situation could be worse for the some 1,500-2,000 small producers in the affected areas.

ASOEX's report released yesterday stated climatic conditions had generally been very similar to last year between the XI (O'Higgins) and VIII (Bio Bio) regions, with lower temperatures than normal recorded in the IX (Araucanía) region.

The organization said although these temperature changes were not considered particularly out-of-the-ordinary, two frosts of 'relative importance' had occurred throughout parts of the aforementioned regions.

It said the frosts had caused some damage in some specific areas, especially in the foothills of the mountains, and had affected some fruit crops that were sprouting or still with fruit forming, as was the case with kiwifruit, cherries, pome fruit, berries, and stonefruit.

In terms of crop damage, the report said that exporters' technical teams had been conducting assessments and had concluded the damage was largely limited to the foothill regions.

It said the most heavily affected crop was kiwifruit, with between 50-80% cross loss in the most extreme cases where the fruit had only recently started to develop.

Some stonefruit varieties were also damaged that were located in the XI and VII (Maule) regions, which had experienced higher rainfall and a slight drop in average temperatures.

While a quantitive report is not due until the end of October, preliminary estimates by some assessors say there could be up to 20% less volume as a result.

Cherry crops in production areas that saw temperatures below -0,5ºC (31°F) for more than one hour will see small volume reductions, but the losses should not be more than 2-3% of the originally anticipated total.

The report added the case for pome fruit was very similar to that of cherries, and the situation would be reevaluated post-thinning.

Meanwhile, the Chilean Blueberry Committee said in a statement the frosts were not a generalized phenomenon and although some producers may have been severely affected, the reduction in export volumes would not be significant.

"At the level of exporters the situation could be varied, especially because of the fragmentation of supply that the industry currently exhibits," the Committee statement said.

"Therefore, the contact between exporters and importers should be very close to establish the real impact for every company…the variations in the reduction of export volume could extend between zero and 15, something that companies should confirm in the coming days when the level of fruit set will be able to be observed more clearly."

In the report released by ASOEX, the organization's president Ronald Bown played down the frosts' impacts, saying they were nowhere near the severity of those recorded in Chile in September 2013.

"To date, we are expecting a normal fruit export season - but as usual that is subject to future climatic conditions and other aspects related to the production and delivery of our nation's fruit," he said.

Related stories: Chilean frosts 'nothing like last year', say industry leaders

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