The summer is over and demand for limes is decreasing, as happens every September. “The holiday destinations in the Mediterranean are buying less, because all the tourists have gone home again and outdoor cafés and bars are less busy as well here in Western Europe,” Joey Deen from Denimpex says. He mentions a mediocre summer season for limes. “Relatively speaking, we’ve had a short period of high prices and a long period of low prices. After all the calculations, prices were generally worse than in previous seasons.”
“The local market in Brazil was incredibly strong, and prices for export were therefore very high. The strong market and high prices also resulted in poorer quality for export to Europe in general from Brazil. Mexico had its quality much more under control this year, and that was just good, generally speaking,” the importer continued. “Right now, Brazil is sending very few limes for the time of year, and volumes are about 60 per cent lower than in 2016. Veracruz in Mexico was struck by multiple hurricanes, of course, so much less fruit is sent from there as well now. Because of this, the market is now finally moving up again, and price levels are becoming healthier, so that exporter, importer and final customer can all make a profit.”
“It can be seen that, because results for limes have been good in recent years, more countries, including Guatemala, Peru and Colombia, started producing them and they now also want to export them. Up till now they haven’t all been as successful, but they are competitors to major production giants like Brazil and Mexico, who therefore have to continue observing them. After all, they could become serious competitors in future. This could result in overproduction. Considering the lime’s shelf life isn’t as long as that of other citrus fruits, and export to the Middle East, Far East and India will therefore remain limited, these will eventually end up on the European market. We’ll have to wait and see what will then happen,” Joey concludes.
For more information:
Joey Deen
Denimpex B.V.
Sint Antoniesbreestraat 10
1011 HB Amsterdam – NL
T: +31 20 6246390
F: +31 20 6225448
www.denimpex.nl