When does South Africa export pears?

South Africa ships pears January–May, with June at the shoulders. These are export weeks out of the origin, not arrival weeks in your market.

When do South Africa pears arrive in Europe?

On the South Africa → Rotterdam run, quoted at 16–22 days port to port, that window lands around week 3–25 — January–June. Add the road leg at either end.

South Africa pear export season (2026)

South Africa pear export season

South Africa ships pears January–May, with June at the shoulders. Lands January–June on the South Africa → Rotterdam run.

Ships

January–May

June at the shoulders

Lands

week 3–25

on the South Africa → Rotterdam run, 16–22 days

South Africa pears: the export window by month, and the weeks each lane lands it.
Stage	Month J F M A M J J A S O N D
Ships out of South Africa	Ships january–may peak · june shoulder
South Africa → Rotterdam 16–22 days · week 3–25	Lands week 3–25 on the South Africa → Rotterdam run

Peak Shoulder Landing Port to port, across services rather than one schedule. Add the road leg at either end.

Varieties Packham's Triumph, Forelle, Abate Fetel Load ports Cape Town, Durban, and Gqeberha

Roughly January to June, with the apple programme. Forelle is the variety South Africa is known for and it is largely a European trade.

Pears are less tolerant than apples of temperature drift, and they ripen at destination on the importer’s schedule — so what a container’s reefer actually did on the voyage is worth more than what the schedule said it would.

Last reviewed August 2026. Editorial ranges for a normal year, not a published schedule. Weather moves them, sometimes by weeks.

Importing pears out of South Africa? Trackberry tracks those containers and reads the paperwork that arrives with them, in one place. Book a 20-minute chat.

South Africa pear export season

Also out of South Africa

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