Climate is major factor
He says this year's high production is a combination of several factors. "Last year, cultivating the plants went well. There was a lot of production in the plant. The climate was also a decisive factor. We had a mild winter, a slow spring and two hot summer months. Because of the high temperatures, there were production spikes in summer, up to supplies of over 500 tonnes on one day."
Open field growers hit hardest
"Record supplies usually don't go hand in hand with record prices," Jan notes. "Still, we can say that the summer period, with the open field production in the middle of it, has had bad prices. Companies that mainly focus on open field, were hit hard by this." He also thinks this needs to be said clearly. "Those bad prices in summer usually fade away when there's talk of a general mid price that's still good thanks to better prices in spring and autumn."
Jan notes that autumn is looking promising. "The production in greenhouse cultivation is starting slowly, and will reach its peak mid-October. This fall, we're also expecting a bit more production than we had the same period last year. Price setting is very good at the moment. Especially the domestic market, and our usual export markets, France and Scandinavia, are doing well. To come full circle, for the third year in a row we'll start with illuminated cultivation mid-December," he concludes.
For more information:
Jan Engelen
Veiling Hoogstraten
Loenhoutseweg 59
Hoogstraten - Belgium
Tel: +32 3 3400233
Fax: +32 3 3147844
www.hoogstraten.eu
Veiling Hoogstraten
Loenhoutseweg 59
Hoogstraten - Belgium
Tel: +32 3 3400233
Fax: +32 3 3147844
www.hoogstraten.eu