The Italian asparagus season is slow. In Emilia-Romagna, a two-week delay is expected and harvesting will probably start around Easter. This was caused by the cold weather and rain in February.
Delays have been recorded also in Lazio, whereas in Apulia there is very little produce, just like in Sicily. It also seems like Spain is having the same problem.
At the moment, Italian operators still have to import from Mexico and prices are high - half a kg of asparagus can cost more than €5 in retail!
In the last couple of years, production peaks in Northern and Central-Southern Italy never coincided, so quantities could be placed on the market almost in a "controlled" manner. But the fear is that supplies from different production areas will overlap.
The Italian produce is usually affected by Spanish competition on the domestic market and by the Hungarian one abroad.