A short operational note from our packhouse and shipping desk for the week beginning 10 September 2026. It covers what is actually running on the line, what is being booked and where buyers should be putting their attention over the next fortnight.
Pomegranate
Wonderful is at peak volume this week. Fruit coming off the orchards is grading well on diameter, with the bulk landing in the mid to large calibres, and colour cover on the main pick is now consistent enough that we are running fewer second-pass sorts than a fortnight ago. Internal quality is sound and aril colour is where it should be for this stage of the season.
The practical point for buyers is that peak volume is when the best colour cover and the best size distribution occur together, and that window is measured in weeks rather than months. Loads booked for late October and November come out of storage, which is a different proposition on both grading and price. Anyone still deciding should read the note on grading Egyptian pomegranate for export before writing a specification.
Packing is running in the standard 4 kg and 5 kg single-layer cartons for retail and 9 kg to 10 kg for wholesale. Loading is out of Alexandria and Damietta on weekly sailings.
Citrus
Navel maturity sampling continued through the week. Fruit is still short of the brix to acid ratio required for a commercial pick, which is normal for the second week of September. Colour break is approaching but has not started in the main growing areas. Nothing about the sampling so far suggests a season that opens earlier or later than usual, and our working assumption remains first commercial picking in the second half of November.
Booking positions for the opening weeks are being taken now. Reefer plugs on the December and January sailings are the ones that go short, and buyers who leave the booking until colour break find themselves competing for space rather than for fruit. Valencia positions from February are open for discussion in the same conversation.
The packhouse citrus line was commissioned earlier this month and is now on test runs. Drencher, waxing and sizing settings are being calibrated ahead of first volume.
Onion and garlic
Both crops are moving out of store rather than off the field. Cure quality on this year’s lots has been good, and the storage crops are the natural filler for buyers who want a mixed reefer while the fresh fruit calendar is between seasons. Mesh bag and carton formats are both available and the container is ventilated dry rather than reefer for most destinations.
Freight and equipment
Reefer equipment availability at the Egyptian ports is workable this week but tightening as the autumn programme builds. Space requests for October sailings should be with the carrier ten to fourteen days ahead. Rates have been firming since late August, which is the ordinary seasonal pattern rather than anything unusual.
What to do this fortnight
Book pomegranate against the peak rather than the storage tail. Take a position on Navel volume and, more importantly, on the reefer space that carries it. Fill the gap weeks with onion and garlic if your customers will take them.
For current availability, specifications and prices under Incoterms 2020 out of Alexandria, Damietta or Sokhna, message the desk on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918.