Kiwifruit marketer Zespri is forecasting average fruit and service payments for kiwifruit growers are set to increase by $13.7 million or 15c per tray on last season.Zespri director of corporate and grower services Carol Ward today said market returns wer
Kiwifruit marketer Zespri is forecasting average fruit and service payments for kiwifruit growers are set to increase by $13.7 million or 15c per tray on last season.
Zespri director of corporate and grower services Carol Ward today said market returns were up on last year and reflected strong consumer demand.
But challenging market conditions remained as the global economy emerged from the recession, with Japan and East Asia recovering more quickly than Europe and North America, Ms Ward said.
Orchard gate returns for green kiwifruit growers were holding above $4 per tray, and were up by 39c on the 2009/10 season.
A slower-than-anticipated recovery from recession-level pricing had affected green organic returns which were forecast to be down by 6c on last year at $5.61.
Gold fruit returns continued to rise and were forecast to be up by 99c on last season to $8.72 per tray, as strong demand combined with a lower-than-anticipated crop volume due to seasonal factors.
The last vessel of the season was due to leave the Port of Tauranga next Thursday, destined for Japan, Ms Ward said.
About 10 percent of the crop had yet to be sold.
Zespri's hedging policy, which set foreign exchange cover in place up to three years before a season started, had helped returns.
Had no hedging been in place for this season, average returns could have been up to 85c per tray lower than now forecast, Ms Ward said.
She noted some relief was expected for growers of green category fruit in the next few years as green orchards were grafted over to new varieties and productivity improved.
