The Peruvian Hass Avocado Growers Association (ProHass) has forecast a 21-26% rise in exports for the current season that began in March, with expectations the total crop shipped will hit between 280,000-290,000 metric tons (MT).

The projection is higher than previous estimates of a 10-15% rise.

ProHass vice president Daniel Bustamante told Fresh Fruit Portal the season would be longer thanks to new regions entering production.

"The season is lengthening due to the entry of new projects in new zones of Peru where production is a bit earlier, so we are already in full harvest," Bustamante said.

"The volumes coming now are from new zones and the traditional [volumes] ones will start to be exported from mid-May, so the export campaign should finish by mid-September."

He expected volumes would peak between June and July, with North America and Europe set for export growth of 15% and 20% respectively, while the industry would also make the most of new export opportunities in Argentina.

He said exports to Asian markets had increasing in "giant steps" for the past two years.

"We are just recently entering that market and good demand has been seen. There is a lot of interest from Peruvian exporters to service that region, mainly China and Japan," Bustamante said.

Like Chile, the Peruvian avocado industry has also been trying to achieve access to the South Korean market where to date New Zealand has been a major player. 

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