The Argentine blueberry industry has already notched up two air freight flights this season with 48 more to go, a provincial government minister told radio station LV12.

Tucuman Foreign Trade Production Minister Fernando Martoreli, told the station the first flight took off on Monday with 50 metric tons (MT) of the fruit bound for Miami, with expected re-export to the Netherlands.

He said the first direct blueberry cargo flights to Los Angeles from Tucuman were expected this year with a maximum capacity of 50MT per flight, the story reported.

Martoreli pointed to good quality fruit this season due to favorable weather conditions, with producers fetching a 'good price' of around US$32 per 1.5kg carton.

"We hope that this can be maintained for the length of the campaign until the end of November," he was quoted as saying.

"We have the advantage that blueberries are not just for northern countries as a counter-seasonal product, but that our direct competitors like Chile, Buenos Aires and Entre Rios still have 20 days to wait.

"This allows us to have a wider window and better prices for the fruit."

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