“We can't even sell it to the juice industry because it's saturated”
Everything indicates that a lot of fruit will remain on the trees in the Valencian Community in this campaign, which is approaching its end, as a result of the collapse of prices and the low expectations there are for citrus sales in this second part of the season.
"We've never had such a disastrous second season, except in some type of clementine. This is unprecedented," stated the vice president of the Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA), Bernardo Ferrer, who estimates the current prices for the Valencia orange range between € 1.50 and € 3/arroba. However, he admitted, almost nobody is able to sell them at three euro.
Ferrer said the problems that the different varieties had in this campaign compounded and exploded in the last variety, the Valencia Late, which has also found itself with a saturated and apathetic market.
The vice president of AVA predicts that the orange will be left uncollected in many fields because producers can't even sell it to the juice industry, which pays even lower prices because it is saturated.
In this week of June, the price of the Valencia Late variety ranges between € 1.2 and € 2.4 euro/ arroba. In the same week of last year, it ranged between € 3.3 and € 4.8.
The most infuriating thing, Bernardo said, is that, despite the collapse of prices, "the prices of these products for the final consumer are above the average of the last five years. We demand authorities investigate why the market does not reflect the price that the orange has at origin," he stated.
Source: levante-emv.com