UPDATE: Record rain blamed for poor quality citrus harvest in Qld, but other crops in Vic and SA also hit

The publicly listed Costa Group Holdings Limited suffered a temporary trading halt yesterday after a huge sell off saw its share price fall by almost 10 per cent.

Their was swift business in company shares again today, climbing to above three million shares traded in the first few hours.

But the share price has remain fairly stable at around $2.63.

For a company which usually experiences less than a million trades in any one day, Monday saw 16.2 million trades.

Apparently it was a share expert's advisory on the company which began the run yesterday, but the company later confirmed there were problems with its citrus harvest.

Shares began trading again yesterday afternoon after the company outlined "some quality issues" with its citrus harvest, predominantly in Queensland and Sunraysia in Victoria "due to weather events" in recent weeks.

Pressler's 2PH Farms business it bought for about $200 million last year at Emerald is "predominantly operating in line with pre-acquisition expectations with volumes above forecast".

2PH has more than 1474ha of planted citrus trees and 240ha of planted table grapes, with a further 210ha to be planted by 2023.

"However some quality issues have been encountered due to weather events occurring over recent weeks," company secretary David Thomas said in an update to the ASX yesterday.

Emerald has experienced both a low temperature record and record rain in July.

"Certain varieties have been affected, and at this stage of the harvest this has resulted in a lower percentage of first grade product versus the prior year."

Mr Thomas said prices were up and demand for its produce was strong.

"However, weather events have also resulted in some quality issues which have become evident as the season has progressed, most notably with navels, and more so in Sunraysia than the Riverland.

"This has impacted pack out rates versus the prior year."

Mr Thomas told the ASX the full impact of the citrus quality problems "could not be determined until the citrus season is further progressed".

He told shareholders it was confident its half-yearly financial results, to be released on August 26, "are anticipated to be in line with the company's expectations".

Mr Thomas said its fruit was continuing to be successfully exported to China and other key Asian markets, with an improvement in shipping services from last year although transit times and service performance are still not at pre pandemic levels.

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Melbourne-headquartered Costa is Australia's leading grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables.

It owns citrus assets stretching from Queensland to the Riverland in South Australia and Sunraysia in Victoria.

The company also has farms in almost 30 locations in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia growing berries, mushrooms, glasshouse tomatoes and avocados.

Operations include about 7000 hectares of farms, 40ha of glasshouse growing and three mushroom growing facilities across Australia.

It also has majority ownership of farms in Morocco and China.

Only last year Costa was looking to expanding its citrus and avocado plantings in Sunraysia and the Riverland.