Satara trading halt lifted

Satara trading halt lifted, says suspect orchard 'not ours'

By Jason Krupp

Nov. 8 (BusinessDesk) - Satara Cooperative Group has lifted its trading halt after it suspended its shares ahead of an announcement by MAF Biosecurity that it had quarantined an orchard suspected of having kiwifruit canker.

Satara, which produces 26% of the country’s kiwifruit, said that while it isn’t connected to the affected property, the company chose to halt trading in their shares because of the potential impact the disease could have.

“We have a responsibility to pass on information received that might impact on the investment,” managing director Tom Wilson told BusinessDesk. “This (disease) has the potential of impact the broader industry and is not related to one of our orchards.”

On Friday MAF Biosecurity quarantined a site on the North Island suspected of being infected with the highly destructive Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa) bacteria, and said would able to verify the presence of the bacteria by Wednesday.

The disease has been identified in kiwifruit for at least 25 years but has not previously been found in New Zealand.

Psa has caused significant damage to Italian kiwifruit production in recent years, but it is not yet known what effect it would have on the kiwifruit industry in New Zealand if its presence here was confirmed.

Seeka Kiwifruit Industries Ltd., the other kiwifruit grower and post-harvesting operator which also suspended its shares today, was forced to book around $1 million of the $7.2 million cost of destroying golden kiwifruit vines carried on an Italian orchard owned by Opotiki Packing and Cool Storage Ltd., in which Seeka has a 19.2% stake.

A spokesperson for Zespri told BusinessDesk earlier today that a range of treatments was available to kiwifruit growers depending on what variety of Psa was prevalent, with the responses ranging from spraying to complete vine destruction.

Satara said in a statement to the NZX that Psa, should it be confirmed, will reduce the industry crop volume and lead to market restrictions which may impact industry fruit returns for all growers, and any loss of throughput will negatively impact the profitability of the business.

The company said it was not clear at this stage if confirmation of Psa would have any impact on the proposed merger with Eastpack Ltd.

Satara shares last traded at $1 before the trading halt, and have risen 42.9% this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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