Neuquén (Argentina): 50% growth with record production at 1,600 tonnes

07 Feb 2024
1976

External placements of cherries in Neuquén this season amounted to 1,600 tonnes, a figure that represents a growth of around 49% compared to the previous year and a jump of 58% if one considers the average export volume of the last five seasons.

Good weather conditions in the Upper Valley region made it possible to achieve these export volumes. "It was a very good year. We had a high quality harvest and this was recognised by the market,' Aníbal Caminiti, director of the  Integrated Producers Argentinean Cherries Association  (CAPCI), told Más Producción.

Neuquén holds an important share in Argentina's cherry exports, averaging 22 per cent of the product's total external placements. This season's sales will generate foreign currency worth just over USD 4 million. In the province, the cherry harvest is over and exports are also finished. There are two key companies driving the foreign trade of this type of product in Neuquén: Vista Alegre and Pincen.

"On a national level, we can say that we are about to reach 6,000 tonnes of exported cherries. Until Friday, 5,100 tonnes had been exported," Caminiti noted. It should be noted that all of Chubut's exports have yet to be shipped. This exportable supply is for late cherries, which arrive on foreign markets when the fruit is very scarce.

"Late exports are also very important. The cherry that is shipped in March arrives on the Chinese market in April, a time when the supply drops considerably with the participation of local production under glass. But the volume peaks have already passed,' the CAPCI manager clarifies.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that in international markets there are two 'shocks' per season when supply drops sharply. The first of these occurs in October and November, the first season in the southern hemisphere.

Many of the exports from the Río Negro Valley and Neuquén rely on this 'commercial window' to achieve high levels of profitability. The other 'hit' occurs in March and April, when the late exportable supply arrives from the southern region of Patagonia (Chubut and Santa Cruz).

Chile, the world's largest exporter of cherries, enters the markets early and achieves high levels of profitability; however, for the time being, it does not have the necessary volumes to supply the international market with late cherries.

Read the full article: Más Producción


Cherry Times - All rights reserved

What to read next

Argentina: focus on early varieties and logistics to diversify market destinations

Production

10 Jan 2025

Anibal Caminiti explained that Rio Negro had an exportable production of early varieties, with young plantations that had not been treated with cyanamide, which in the future will allow an advance in production, with an entry into the foreign market in week 42.

Precision management in tart cherry orchards: the impact of soil variability on canopy density and yield

Tech management

27 Jun 2024

A team from Utah State University examined four black cherry orchards. The orchards were chosen for different soil characteristics and canopy structure, which were mapped and analyzed to understand how texture affects orchard performance.

In evidenza

The genes that determine the colour and size of cherries

Breeding

17 Apr 2026

A study on sweet cherry grown in Northern Greece examines transcription factors PaWRKY57 and PaNAC29, highlighting their key role in fruit growth, color development and in the molecular mechanisms regulating ripening in non-climacteric fruit species.

A study reveals that the rootstock-variety combination is key to increasing drought tolerance in cherry trees

Rootstocks

17 Apr 2026

CEAF research shows that rootstock and variety combinations influence drought tolerance in cherry trees in Chile, where rainfall is sharply declining. The study highlights strategies to improve water use efficiency and irrigation management in extreme climate conditions.

Tag Popolari