High volatility remains with prices of the Euro remaining between 1.06-1.10. Every time the euro gets a bit stronger, people want to buy and demand increases, so we are saying more inquiries around the Continent for our products, especially almonds and Brazil nuts.
A very significant even occurred in Chile on Friday, last week. Officials in Chile said 17 people were killed and 20 were still missing after flash floods devastated the Atacama region, north of the country. People have lost their crops, means of livelihood and it is a state of national emergency.
The rains, which started on Tuesday, were the worst in 80 years to fall in the region, one of the driest on Earth. We are looking at what impacts this can have on the crops, for example the raisins (all varieties including flame, Thompson). These floods have come 2/3s within the drying season, and in many cases have been swept away. We are possibly looking at 90% damage to 30% of the crop of Chilean vine fruits, so a tragic situation indeed.
You can see our cranberry trader, Sarah Roberts, make a special mention on the devastating fire which hit the Fruit D’or Cranberry processing plant last week.
Alex Poole, our seeds trader, also talks about the latest with regard to pumpkin seeds. Prices remain high and firm until Nov/Dec time.