Cirad, the French agronomic research organisation, has reported that lemons were sold at €2.50/kg in early June. Prices were also high in the 2015/16 season - €1.48 for a kg of lemons against the 94 cents of 2014/15 and 79 cents of 2013/14.
In France, similar prices were only reached in 2007/08, when the average was €1.31/kg. But what are the reasons behind such high prices? According to Cirad, it is due to the lack of produce in both European and non-European countries.
French price barometer. (Chart and data by Cirad).
Spain recorded the lowest volumes of the past 5 campaigns at 710 thousand tons, i.e. 35% less than 2014/15 and 27% less than the average of the last 4 years. This also led to a drop in exports. Such a low production is due to the lack of rain and to the high temperatures at the beginning of the campaign, which have also caused a drop in production in Argentina.
Spanish lemon production - thousands of tons (Cirad chard created with Ailimpo data).
Turkey also produced less than in the past season, as it had to deal with the effects of the frost that hit the Mersin region in 2014/15. Estimates talk about -15/20% with respect to the 2014/15 season.
Exports dropped between 10 and 13%, though it must be said that lemons sent to Europe increased by 13%. Quantities sent to Russia have instead dropped by 30% even though the fruit is one of the few products that are not affected by the Russian ban.
Italy too saw a 10% drop in production. Exports have increased, though volumes remain limited - 20 thousand tons in February 2016 with a 5 thousand ton increase with respect to the previous campaign.
The drops in production recorded by the leading lemon producers worldwide appear paradoxical if we consider production has been increasing in the medium term. In Spain, the annual production of Verna and Fino lemons is expected to reach 1.3/1.4 million tons before the end of the decade.
The same is happening in South Africa, where 2 thousand new hectares have been planted, and in Argentina, as more trees have been planted in the Salta region while an improved productivity has been achieved in the Tucumàn region.
FreshPlaza processing of Cirad data.