Packing in South Africa’s Hex River table grape production region has been delayed this week (week 4) due to summer rain over the past weekend.
Producers in the region expect to resume packing towards the end of the week. The rains in the Hex River valley were not accompanied by the strong winds that lashed the Cape Peninsula over the same weekend.
Fortunately, the potential impact of the rain is limited to only the grapes that were ready for harvest at the time. Most of this region’s early and more sensitive cultivars have already been harvested, keeping in mind that the season started a week earlier. Producers have also placed grapes under plastic for protection.
The bulk of the Hex River crop is made up of mid to late cultivars, which are stronger and in any event still unripe, which means that rain hardly affects it negatively. In fact, there is even relief in some areas where water availability was a concern. The crop estimate for this region remains unchanged and the outlook positive.
Meanwhile, the Berg River region, which received minimal rain, is packing as normal.
The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) will release the bi-weekly industry newsletter as per normal later this week, which will contain a full update on intake and export figures, as well as the regular update on all 5 production regions.
