South Africa’s 2025/26 Table Grape Season: Record Harvest, Flat Exports

The South African table grape season typically begins in November each year and concludes in April of the following year. Now that marketing year 2025/26 has officially come to an end, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service office in Pretoria recently published a comprehensive review of the season.

Overall, weather conditions across major production regions were generally favorable, supporting an estimated record-high production volume of 385,000 metric tons, approximately 1% higher than in MY 2024/25. This increase was primarily driven by high-yielding varieties entering full production, combined with sufficient irrigation water availability providing strong support for stable output growth.

South Africa’s table grape exports for MY 2025/26 were estimated at approximately 352,400 metric tons, largely unchanged from MY 2024/25. This lack of significant export growth was mainly attributed to logistical constraints at the Port of Cape Town, where record levels of adverse weather events severely restricted port handling capacity.

As the primary export gateway for South African table grapes, the Port of Cape Town accounted for only 76% of exports this marketing year, a significant decline from 90% in MY 2024/25. According to industry sources, the decrease was driven by a combination of factors, including earlier harvesting, weather disruptions and port operational challenges. These issues led to export delays and forced some shipments to be diverted through alternative ports. For growers, this inevitably increased their logistics costs and placed additional pressure on their profitability.

The leading exported grape varieties in MY 2025/26 were Crimson Seedless (12% of exports), Sweet Globe (11%), Sweet Celebration (11%), Autumn Crisp (9%) and Prime (8%). This export variety structure closely aligns with South Africa’s most commonly planted varieties, reflecting a strong consistency between export supply and production patterns.

Europe, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, remained the largest export market for South African table grapes, accounting for approximately 86% of exports in MY 2025/26, up significantly from 76% in MY 2024/25. Meanwhile, South African table grape exports to the United States experienced a sharp decline. Following the implementation of additional U.S. import tariffs on South African table grapes in April 2025, exports to the U.S. market dropped by 86% compared with the record level achieved in MY 2024/25. As a result, volumes originally destined for the U.S. market had to be redirected, with a significant portion flowing into the European market.

According to data from China Customs, between November 2025 and May 2026, South Africa exported approximately 687 metric tons of table grapes to China, with an export value of around $1.9 million. This represented year-on-year declines of 70% in volume and 71% in value, respectively.

South Africa is a net exporter of table grapes, while imports are primarily used to meet domestic demand during the local off-season period from June to early December. The main supplying countries include Namibia, Egypt and Spain. Grapes from Namibia and Spain can enter the South African market free of duty.

Image: Pixabay