Which countries export apples?

Chile, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, China, Japan, Italy, and Poland. These are export weeks out of the origin, not arrival weeks in your market — add the lane's transit on top.

Season calendar

Apple export season by country

Which origin is shipping apples in any given month — ten of them, and almost all of it out of storage rather than off the tree.

Available all year, peak October–June, from Chile, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, China, Japan, Italy and Poland. The rest of the year is shoulder supply rather than a gap.

Peak — shipping in volume Shoulder — opening or closing Export windows out of the origin, not arrival weeks. Add the lane's transit.

Apple export calendar: which origin ships in which month.
Origin	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Chile March–May peak · February, June–July shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Shoulder	March: Peak	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Shoulder	July: Shoulder	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping
Brazil March–May peak · February, June–July shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Shoulder	March: Peak	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Shoulder	July: Shoulder	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping
Argentina February–June peak · July shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Peak	March: Peak	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Peak	July: Shoulder	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping
South Africa March–June peak · February, July shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Shoulder	March: Peak	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Peak	July: Shoulder	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping
New Zealand March–June peak · February, July–August shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Shoulder	March: Peak	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Peak	July: Shoulder	August: Shoulder	September: Not shipping	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping
United States October–March peak · April–September shoulder	January: Peak	February: Peak	March: Peak	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Shoulder	July: Shoulder	August: Shoulder	September: Shoulder	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Peak
China October–January peak · February–May, September shoulder	January: Peak	February: Shoulder	March: Shoulder	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Not shipping	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Shoulder	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Peak
Japan November–January peak · February–April, October shoulder	January: Peak	February: Shoulder	March: Shoulder	April: Shoulder	May: Not shipping	June: Not shipping	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Shoulder	November: Peak	December: Peak
Italy October–March peak · April–June, September shoulder	January: Peak	February: Peak	March: Peak	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Shoulder	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Shoulder	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Peak
Poland October–March peak · April–September shoulder	January: Peak	February: Peak	March: Peak	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Shoulder	July: Shoulder	August: Shoulder	September: Shoulder	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Peak

Last reviewed August 2026. Windows are editorial ranges for a normal year, not a published schedule, and they are export weeks out of the origin rather than arrival weeks in your market.

Apples are the counterweight to everything else on a fresh produce calendar. They harvest after the summer fruit, they store for months rather than days, and they ship into somebody else’s gap. New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Argentina and southern Brazil all run windows from about February into the middle of the year; Washington State, China, Japan, Italy and Poland run the opposite half, from an autumn harvest into the following spring. Between them there is no month without an apple programme sailing somewhere.

Read almost every row here as a selling window rather than a harvest. Controlled-atmosphere storage is what makes the trade work, so the date a box sails is a commercial decision and the calendar below is what the seller chose rather than what the tree did. Two rows barely sail at all — Italian and Polish apples reach most of their buyers by lorry, and the container volume is what goes on to Asia and the Middle East. That tolerance also makes apples the least stressful reefer programme on this list — which is exactly why an apple container is the one people stop watching. A box that dwells because nobody was in a hurry still accrues demurrage.

Chile

March–May peak · February, June–July shoulder Varieties: Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji Load ports: Valparaíso, San Antonio, and Coronel

Roughly February to July, shipping from storage well past the harvest itself. Apples are what keeps Chilean volume moving after the summer fruit has finished and the ports have calmed down.

Chile apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything Chile ships · Chile → Philadelphia, Chile → Rotterdam, Chile → United Kingdom

Brazil

March–May peak · February, June–July shoulder Varieties: Gala, Fuji Load ports: Pecém, Natal, Salvador, and Santos

Roughly March to July out of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, shipping through Santos — a conventional Southern Hemisphere pome fruit window, and agriculturally a different country from the north-eastern mango and melon regions.

Brazil apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything Brazil ships

Argentina

February–June peak · July shoulder Varieties: Gala, Red Delicious, Granny Smith Load ports: San Antonio Este, Buenos Aires, and Zárate

Roughly February to July, from the same Patagonian valleys as the pears and usually in the same programme.

Argentina apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything Argentina ships

South Africa

March–June peak · February, July shoulder Varieties: Gala, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious Load ports: Cape Town, Durban, and Gqeberha

Roughly February to July out of the Western Cape, shipping from storage well past the harvest.

South Africa apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything South Africa ships · South Africa → United Kingdom

New Zealand

March–June peak · February, July–August shoulder Varieties: Royal Gala, Braeburn, Envy, Jazz Load ports: Tauranga, Napier, and Nelson

Harvest from February to May out of Hawke’s Bay and Nelson, shipping from March into the Northern Hemisphere autumn. It lands in the months when European and North American apples are at their oldest, which is the entire commercial argument for shipping fruit half way round the world.

New Zealand apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything New Zealand ships

United States

October–March peak · April–September shoulder Varieties: Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji Load ports: Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle

Washington picks from August to November and then ships out of controlled-atmosphere storage for most of the following year, with the export peak from October to March. The shoulder band below covers every remaining month because the fruit genuinely is still moving: this is a selling programme, not a harvest.

United States apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything United States ships

China

October–January peak · February–May, September shoulder Varieties: Fuji Load ports: Qingdao, Shanghai, and Shenzhen

Shandong and Shaanxi harvest from September, the export peak runs from October into the new year, and stored fruit ships through the spring. Fuji is most of what leaves.

China apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything China ships

Japan

November–January peak · February–April, October shoulder Varieties: Fuji, Ourin Load ports: Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagoya

Aomori picks Fuji from October and ships from about November into the spring out of storage, peaking into the new year. Taiwan is by far the largest buyer, with Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam behind it.

Japan apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything Japan ships

Italy

October–March peak · April–June, September shoulder Varieties: Golden Delicious, Gala, Braeburn Load ports: Genoa, Livorno, and Salerno

Harvest from August to October in South Tyrol and Trentino, then out of controlled-atmosphere storage until the following summer. Like every other apple row in this section, the window is a selling programme rather than a harvest.

Italy apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything Italy ships

Poland

October–March peak · April–September shoulder Varieties: Idared, Gala, Golden Delicious Load ports: Gdańsk and Gdynia

Harvest from late August to October around Grójec, then out of storage for the rest of the year — the shoulder band below covers every remaining month because the fruit genuinely keeps moving until the next crop lands.

Poland apple: window and arrival weeks · Everything Poland ships

FAQ

When are apples in season?: Apples are at peak October–June, shipping from Chile, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, China, Japan, Italy, and Poland. They are still available in July–September, on the shoulder of those windows rather than in volume.
Which countries export apples?: Chile, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, China, Japan, Italy, and Poland. These are export weeks out of the origin, not arrival weeks in your market — add the lane's transit on top.

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