As cold weather and hail continue to show their effects on Argentina's blueberry crop, neighboring Uruguay also looks set to fall short of initial expectations.

The country's industry was originally forecasting a slight rise in shipments this season to 2,500 metric tons (MT), but rains this week have combined with volatile temperatures to significantly affect the harvest.

Uruguayan Fruit Producers and Exporters Union (UPEFRUY) representative Marta Bentancur said 167MT had been shipped in the season to Oct. 5, down 14% year-on-year.

She said this was an "aggravating" circumstance as exports were supposed to be up 10% for the period.

Of the total, 119MT was exported to the U.S., followed Europe (23MT), Canada (18MT) and Brazil (3.3MT), while the rest was sent to Hong Kong.

"Our main markets continue to be the U.S. and in Europe, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. Small volumes go to Asia through Hong Kong," Bentancur said.

"Uruguay is working on opening the Chinese market and we think it could be resolved for the 2016 harvest."

She added the sector was changing its varieties to better adapt to the demands of different markets and raise the volume of fruit sent to the European market.

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