Terremerse reported that, after a slow start of the campaign in July, the apricot and plum campaign seems to be bouncing back, as is happening for the bigger peach and nectarine grades. However, the opposite is happening for watermelons.
Apricots suffered a lot until around July due the quality, affected by the rain in June. The situation was made worse by the fact that temperatures remained low at the start of summer, so demand was rather slow. Luckily things changed in July - quality problems led to limited demand and temperatures finally rose.
The situation was similar for plums. The prices of yellow varieties at the start of the campaign were lower than 2015 and quality was not excellent. Prices have now increased and the demand of red or black firm-fleshed varieties is on the rise.
(Source: Facebook - Terremerse)
Although no drop in quotations was registered in the export grades (i.e. A, B and C) of peaches and nectarines, grade A+ had to deal with the slow demand caused by low temperatures. Overall, prices in 2016 seem to be better than 2015, especially for what concerns the organic produce.
The situation of watermelons is not as good. Last year was exceptional both in terms of quantities and prices but the temperatures at the beginning of this season affected demand. In addition, prices remained lower than 2015.