"Spain: "The clementine campaign is good so far; we'll see how it goes with oranges"

"Last week we started marketing the first Oronules of the season with some smaller calibres than normal due to heavy rains on the coast of Valencia ten days before harvesting; a circumstance which will actually result in larger calibres for our popular Clemenules, which we expect to harvest soon. We will later continue with the Nadorcot and the Orri, imported from Israel, to complete our clementine season," explains José Peiro, general director of Escrig Gourmet. 

With regard to oranges, within fifteen days or so the first Navelinas will arrive, with some delay due to the unusually high temperatures for this time of year. 

As for prices and sales, José Peiro believes that, compared to last season, clementines are doing reasonably well so far, although he doesn't expect prices to reach high levels throughout the campaign. "Additionally, the crisis in Europe is leading the market to establish maximum sales prices, something which wasn't done before. Now, even if there were shortages, the fruit would fail to reach the right prices," he adds.

"This year the context is different compared to last year. The Russian veto will not affect us directly because we do not export to this country, but we could be indirectly affected by the greater supply volumes in Europe and prices in a downward trend. In any case, I think the Russian veto will entail a change of strategy for exporting countries, because Morocco and Turkey, for example, will ship larger volumes to Russia, leaving some room in the European market," states José Peiro. 

The outlook for this year's campaign, according to José Peiro, is more positive than last year for clementines; as for oranges, "we'll have to wait and see how it goes, as the product will be facing a lot more competition and Egypt is becoming a fierce competitor with aggressive prices, especially in the Dutch market."