Weeks N°: 46/07 - 47/07 - 48/07 - 49/07- 50/07 - 51/07- 52/07- 01/08 - 02/08 - 03/08 - 04/08 - 05/08 - 06/08

LITCHI LETTER - Week N° 06/08

French Version

ORIGINS	GERMANY		BELGIUM		SPAIN		FRANCE		HOLLAND		UNITED KINGDOM
Weeks	05	06	05	06	05	06	05	06	05	06	05	06
Air	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mauritius (b)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mauritius (s)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Madagascar (b)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunion (b)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Africa (s)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Madagascar	1.20 - 1.30	1.20 - 1.50	1.30 - 1.75	1.25 - 1.50	1.50 - 1.80	1.50 - 1.80	1.10 - 1.50	1.10 - 1.50	1.50 - 1.60	1.50 - 1.70	1.40 - 1.50	1.50
South Africa	-	1.50 - 1.75	1.40 - 2.50	1.50 - 2.50	2.00	2.00	1.50 - 2.50	1.50 - 2.10	1.70 - 2.20	1.90 - 2.10	1.90 - 2.10	-

Price in Euros per kg - (b) : on stem/fresh ; (s) : +SO2 (Indicative and average price given by operators most representative of the industry for fruits of satisfactory quality)

Hereafter is an estimate of litchis exports from Madagascar by sea freighted containers. These volumes do not take to account volumes forwarded through transhipments by other lines.

SUMMARY OF ARRIVALS BY SEA
(In pallets)

INCOMING TONNAGES				FORECASTED TONNAGES
Departure Source	Vessels	Dates - Ports	Tonnage	Departure Source	Vessels	Dates - Ports	Tonnage
Total conventionnal	5 navires	9-18/12/2007	17200
Tamatave 05/12	Atlantic Trader	Rotterdam	2700
Tamatave 11/12	Olivia	-	836
Tamatave 18/12		-	399
Tamatave 24/12		-	37

The above mentioned indications are subject to confirmation. Note: Mrs : Marseille / K : Koper / VD : Vado / SN : St Nazaire.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Madagascar litchi marketing campaign comes to an end this week even if there are still some residual lots available on the European markets. These lots should be cleared in the coming ten days but however, they no longer count for much. The selling prices for these last lots should not be different from those done this week. On the other hand, the South African campaign should continue for weeks, even though volumes received are limited. There should also be a change in varieties with the arrival in a few days (in about ten days) of fruits of the Mac Lean variety. On the whole the fruits of this variety are much less appreciated by consumers and supermarket chains.

Already a temporary report can be done quality wise to summarise the 2007/20008 campaign. Set aside some slight differences, Madagascar exports’ were as important in volumes this year as they were during the previous campaign, with approximately 21200 tons. If the volumes shipped by air are as important as they were last year (between 400 and 450 tons), things have changed on the other hand for sea freighted exports.

The volumes of fruits shipped by conventional vessels during the 2007-2008 campaign increased and helped compensate the reduction of volumes arriving by containers during the previous campaign. In the end, the reduction in export capacities by containers as well as the suppression of one of the destinations in Europe didn’t affect the volumes exported that were still very important. The comments done at this point of the campaign do not really have an impact on the economic results of a campaign that is now finished and that was marked at its end by an unexpected change of prices that were at the opposite of what they usually were after Christmas. It would be good for operators to now analyse its impact on coming campaigns.

Here after is a comparative of the volumes shipped during the previous campaign in regards of the means of transportation used :

Estimates of incoming volumes by Air
(in tons) 

EUROPEAN MARKETS

Germany : End of the marketing campaign for litchis from Madagascar on the same price basis as last week. The fact that the price range is wide shows that quality of fruits available is very mixed. The end of the campaign of Madagascar should allow South African fruits to sell on better basis.

Belgium : Slow and difficult sales for litchis from Madagascar. The operators are progressively switching to supplies from South Africa that are now the most important on the market. The good quality of these fruits allows sales at prices slightly above those done for fruits from Madagascar.

Spain : No change on the litchi market with the last lots of litchis from Madagascar that are still of satisfactory quality. Fruits from South Africa are progressively taking over the market with high prices for limited volumes available.

France : Little change on the market in regard of last week. The ambiance of end of campaign continues with sales of the remaining lots of fruits from Madagascar going on. Considering the weakness of the volumes available sales are dynamic. The quality of the last lots is still very uneven and needs for fruits to be sorted out before being sent to customers to avoid being rejected. Litchis is “out of consumption” and is again a “simple exotic” with limited exposure in supermarkets. Litchis are more and more rare on the wholesale markets with now supplies dominated by fruits from South Africa of uneven quality. In such conditions it is difficult to hope that prices will again increase when they are in fact on a down trend. The last arriving fruits are still as mixed in terms of quality and mostly presenting strong colour defects.

Fruits from the Mac Lean variety (South Africa) should soon replace those actually available. For the Chinese New Year there were again some sales of fruits from Madagascar, but other exotics such as longans (Thailand) represented competition for litchi sales. In supermarkets prices this week were similar to those done the previous week (between 2.50 and 2.95€/kg). Prices with specialised retailers were still rather high, as high as 3.95€ for South African fruits.

Italy : The litchi campaign is finished.

Holland : End of the marketing of litchis from Madagascar with good prices for lots that are of good quality. Stable prices for lots coming from South Africa despite a rather mixed quality and fruits that have poor shelf life. Litchis are no longer considered by operators in their promotion programs with supermarkets. Litchi sales are now very marginal. Some lots of fruits from South Africa are sold at low prices (clearance sales) due to quality issues.

United Kingdom : Little change on the litchi market. Fruits from Madagascar are clearly disappearing from the market even though there are still here and there some lots of fruits sold in supermarkets and on the wholesale
markets. Operators are rather surprised with the quality of the remaining fruits from Madagascar that are still holding out and selling on the same basis as last week on the wholesale market (2.00€/kg). The presence of these last lots disturbs the marketing of fruits from South Africa that mixed in terms of quality and pale in terms of colour (2.35€/kg). The expected raise of prices in supermarkets for South African fruits is taking a long time to come mainly because of the presence of fruits from Madagascar that still available at cheaper prices. The end of the Madagascar campaign should have a positive impact on prices of South African fruits starting from next week.

Exchange rates (february  2008) :

1 EURO
United Kingdom	0.7434 GBP
Madagascar	2 624.18 MGA (Ariary)

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