Spain’s orange exports lift 23% this January compared to the first month of 2014
Spanish exports of fruit and vegetables were up 3.6% in volume and 3.4% in value this January compared to the last one, with a volume of 1.28 million tons and value of €1.14 million. But for vegetables alone, Spain’s exports were actually down 2% in both volume and value – to 620,219 tons and €619.4 million respectively – due to a fall in trade in the country’s main two vegetable exports: tomatoes and lettuce.
Fepex, the Spanish federation of associations of producers and exporters of fruit, vegetables, flowers and live plants, said it was concerned that both the value and volume had dropped for vegetables, “because it affects crops such as tomato and lettuce which are of major social and economic importance for the sector in Spain.”
Using Spanish government figures, Fepex estimates tomato exports were down 12.7% in volume and 6.6% in value to 136,072 tons and €152 million respectively, while lettuce was down 9.4% in volume and 2.6% in value, to 93,906 tons and €87.8 million. And while cucumber was up 11% to 98,257 tons, it was down 26% in value.
Spanish fruit exports
Fepex also reported the following export figures for this January:
- Mandarin up 3.5% to 272 676 tons
- Orange up 23% to 243,242 tons
- Lemon up 12% 61,218 tons
- Persimmon up 10% to 16,542 tons
- Strawberry up 24% more to 8,827 tons
- Avocado up 30% to 8,028 tons
Read Fepex press release (in Spanish)