Initial melon and watermelon prices this season for the Lonja Hortofrutícola de Castilla-La Mancha (the interprofessional association for melons and watermelons in the region) are almost 50% lower than those of 2014 and fail to cover production costs.
The first melons of the season have reached 0.19 to 0.21 Euro for the extra category and 0.14 to 0.17 Euro for the first class, compared to 0.40-0.45 Euro per kilo at the start of the previous campaign.
Watermelon prices range between 0.12 and 0.14 Euro for the first class black seedless and between 0.11 and 0.13 Euro per kilo for the first class white, while at the start of the 2014 campaign they ranged from 0.25 to 0.30 Euro for the first class black seedless and from 0.23 to 0.25 Euro for the first class white.
The reason for such low prices in Castile-La Mancha is the fact that there is still production in other areas such as Murcia, Extremadura and the south, and prices are affected by this competition, explained La Lonja spokesperson Antonio Atienza.
Nevertheless, Atienza remains optimistic and believes that prices will start to rebound as soon as those areas run out of supply and buyer demand starts focusing on the melons and watermelons of Castile-La Mancha.
High temperatures are also a good ally for these products, whose consumption increases significantly with the heat; a factor which they hope will remain unchanged in the coming weeks, added Atienza.
Melon plantings in Castile-La Mancha this campaign have decreased by 3% and 4% compared to the previous year, while the watermelon acreage has grown by 10%, as estimated by the region's interprofessional association for melons and watermelons.
It is estimated that more than 9,000 hectares of melons and around 3,600 of watermelons have been planted this campaign, reported the president of the Interprofessional, Cristóbal Jiménez, who explained that more than 95% concentrates in the province of Ciudad Real, specifically within 30 kilometres around the town of Cinco Casas, in the heart of La Mancha.
Early estimates point to a normal campaign in which between 20% and 22% of the melon acreage has been planted with thermal blankets (early melons). The harvest started only a few days ago and it is expected to continue until late September.
Jiménez hopes the campaign will be a "stable" one, with a production expected to amount to about 300,000 tonnes; "a volume that the market would absorb without much difficulty, as shown by past experiences," he added.
Source: finanzas.com
