Last week's estimates on the European peach and nectarine production are below the assessment made in mid/late April at Europech.
For what concerns Italy, the South is expecting good average yields above those of the previous year. The productive potential remains constant in this part of the country, with significant growth in some areas.
The situation is very different in the North, where productive areas dropped significantly, even by 8-9%. This in turn means production will be lower than last year. Yields are good but not exceptional.
The Spanish season was affected by a heavy hailstorm that hit most of the production areas and Catalonia in particular. Quantities seem to be lower in France and Greece too.
The European production therefore goes from the 3,746,000 tons estimated two months ago to the current 3,625,000 tons, i.e. 2% less than last year.
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Fresh peaches should reach 1,462 million tons, more or less the same as 2014, rather than the 3% growth estimated at Europech. Italy should produce 579 thousand tons (+4% in the South and -8% in the North), Greece drops to 212 thousand tons instead of the estimated 235 thousand and France to 108 thousand, -9% with respect to the previous year.
Spain is experiencing a significant drop from the expected 583 thousand tons to 563 thousand. In addition, the reduction will be entirely at the expense of the Catalonia region.
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For what concerns Percoca peaches, European production is now estimated at 716 thousand tons, i.e. 5% less than 2014.
Nectarine production should be 1,446 million tons, 4% less than 2014. In this case too, Spain is the worst off with a drop from the 548 thousand tons estimated to 519 thousand and, once again, Catalonia is the region experiencing the hardest situation with a production of 162 thousand tons, i.e. 8% less than 2014.
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All areas are experiencing a delay in ripening and a lot will depend on the weather.
The drop in supply of medium/late areas in the north of Italy and Spain may lead to low supply peaks starting from July.
Source: CSO-Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (Ferrara) for FreshPlaza