Chile has declared a state of emergency after widespread frosts caused significant damage to the country’s fruit and wine grape crops. Fruit and wine are two important industries in Chile with fruit exports valued at US$4.3 billion and wine exports worth US$1.8 billion. Temperatures dropped as low as eight degrees Celsius below zero causing major damage to the agricultural production in the O’Higgins region of the country. Fruit exporters have estimated the damage at US$1 billion and the Chilean Wine Corp. estimates losses of US$150 million for the wine industry with particular damage to white grapes. The most damaged crops are peaches, kiwis, nectarines, apricots, avocados and wine grapes.
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