Spain’s exports of fresh fruits and vegetables in the first seven months of 2018 totalled €8.2 billion, matching the 2017 figure for the same period of 2017. Volumes fell by 1% to 4.2 million tons, according to data published by Spain’s General Directorate of Customs.

Brazil’s fruit exports soared 21% in the first six months of 2019. Abrafrutas (the Brazilian association of fruit producers-exporters) announced that grape export volumes are up an astonishing 224%. The reason for the huge increase is mainly due to the favourable weather conditions compared with previous years, when fruit did not reach export quality. Most of Brazil’s grape varieties are seedless. 

Turkey has invested heavily in greenhouse infrastructure and is now able to produce and export tomatoes all year round. Turkey’s tomato exports were worth US$603.6 million in 2018, but the country’s agricultural sector aims to break the $1 billion barrier. Fresh tomato exports were the main product ($292 million), followed by tomato paste ($164 million), dried tomato ($88 million), frozen tomatoes ($39.4 million) and tomato sauces ($16.3 million).

Despite problems with the EU market and adverse winter conditions, Ecuador recorded a 2% year-on-year increase in banana exports during the first quarter of 2019, shipping 95.3 million boxes. However, Ecuador’s banana exports to the EU dropped 15% in the first three months of the year, according to the Banana Marketing and Export Association (ACORBANEC). The fall in shipments is attributed to cheaper competitors like Guatemala.

The total production of this Spanish company is splited among the European Union. 50%  is sent to Germany, 10% remains in Spain and the rest is distributed among other European countries such as Switzerland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and the United Kingdom.

HaciendasBio is the only European producer with 20 consecutive harvesting weeks from its own farms.

The EU has imposed further restrictions on imports of Peruvian mango. The new regulation will come into effect on September 1 to control for fruit fly. It is now required that the fruit undergo hydrothermal treatment to eliminate the pest. Moreover, the fruit must come from a plot which has been certified free of fruit fly for at least 3 months.

This measure could have a considerable effect on Peru’s mango exports, with 65% of the country’s fresh mango exports shipped to the EU. The next largest markets are the US (30%), followed by China, Japan, South Korea and Chile.

The tomato exports have dropped 20% over the past ten years, from 1.36 million tons to 1.09 million tons, according to Coexphal data. As the average price per kilo has risen from €0.83 to €1.5, in value terms, the exports have increased from €1.12 billion to €1.62 billion. The export volumes of Spanish tomatoes have also fallen over this period, but by 6.8%. 

The main markets for Dutch tomatoes in 2018 were Germany (434.7 million kilos), the UK (180.6 million kilos), Sweden (58.5 million kilos), Italy (45.7 million kilos), and Poland (34.6 million kilos).

Ukraine’s agricultural export market was worth a record USD 18.8 billion in 2018 and this growth trend has continued into the current year.

 Agrarian Ministry officials have reported a 24.4% year-on-year increase in agricultural exports during January-February 2019, representing a new total for the two-month period of USD 3.5 billion.

Chile’s 2019 citrus exports are expected to fall by 3%, with the largest drop recorded for clementines. According to ASOEX, clementine volumes are forecast to be down 8% to 58,000 tons, while orange exports will also drop 3% to 97,000 tons. Lemon (88,000 tons) and mandarin exports are set to remain stable. Despite the forecasts, ASOEX expects very good calibre and quality, thanks to favourable growing conditions.

The third Citrus Summit organised by the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) took place in Port Elizabeth on 12-14 March 2019 and was attended by 600 delegates. The conference covered different issues including the evolving political, economic and business perspective from a South African perspective, ethical compliance, biosecurity issues, logistics developments as well as market development for the EU, the US and Russia.