Between January and September, Italian companies exported around 3 million tons of produce worth over €3.4 billion.
Fewer vegetables (-11.4%), citrus fruit (-20.2%) and dried fruit (-4%) were exported while dried fruit volumes increased (12.3%). In terms of value, the sign was positive for vegetables (2.7%) and fresh fruit (3.6%) while it was negative for citrus (-15%) and dried fruit (-0.2%).
Italy imported around 2.7 million tons of produce for a total value of €2.8 billion.
There was an increase in the volume of dried fruit (6.7%), tropical fruit (11.5%), vegetables (1%), citrus fruit (41.6%) and fresh fruit (7.7%). As regards value, the sign was positive for vegetables (9%), tropical fruit (7.3%), citrus fruit (16.3%) and fresh fruit (5%) while there was a drop for dried fruit (6,1%).
Fruitimprese past president and head of Gruppo Besana, Pino Calcagni, (in the photo) commented that "the positive export trend in the first 9 months of the year (+12.3%) is due to the good opportunities for our hazelnuts on European and international markets. The value dropped slightly (-0.2%) due to the lower price of unshelled hazelnuts compared to a year ago (-15%) and to the lower income registered in the UK due to Brexit (-9%)."
"As regards imports, the increase in quantities (+6.7%) is due to the strong increase in consumption on the domestic market, while the drop in imported volumes (-6.1%) can be explained with the considerable reduction of the international average price of almonds and hazelnuts (-12%). We can say that dried fruit has become common for Italian consumers: the domestic market handles 300,000 tons and consumption reaches between €900 million and €1 billion."
Associazione Imprese Ortofrutticole
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Tel.: (+39) 06 37515147
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Email: info@fruitimprese.it
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