The market for limes has been stable in recent weeks. "The sales figures were at an acceptable level. Supplies from Brazil have been very limited due to limited kilos coming off the trees, and a good local market because it's summer in Brazil now. That's why there was little to no price difference between Brazil and Mexico," says Joey Deen of Denimpex.
"The export volumes from Mexico remain unexpectedly high this late in the season. Our own supplies stopped shipping three weeks ago already, because they couldn't guarantee the quality anymore, and we also saw that in the last Mexico container. The quality was acceptable, just not as it should be anymore, or at least the quality we as Denimpex aim for," Joey says. "There are also more limes on the market from Guatemala. These limes are increasingly appearing on the market in Europe, beyond the traditional countries Brazil and Mexico."
"The 2015 lime year has been completely different than 2014. In the summer of 2014, we had prices of 10 euros or higher for ten weeks, and people had limes flown in, which didn't occur this year, or only very briefly. The positive thing was that we didn't have last year's extreme dip in 2015. In general, we can look back on a successful lime year, because despite the larger supply compared to 2014, prices have remained stable."
When asked whether there is a specific Christmas demand, Joey responds: "There are two retailers in Germany with a promotion in week 51 and 52. The market has become a bit friendlier in the past two weeks, but the prices haven't really gone up. Perhaps something will happen next week, but we're not really seeing Christmas sales this year, but that's been the case for years. We expect that the market will remain stable, and that there won't be huge differences. Perhaps the price for the smaller sizes (60/63) will go down a bit, because many smaller sizes are coming from Brazil, and the thicker sizes (42/48) will increase a bit because supplies are just incredibly limited."
For more information:
Joey Deen
Denimpex B.V.
Sint Antoniesbreestraat 10
1011 HB Amsterdam – Holland
T: +31 20 6246390
F: +31 20 6225448
www.denimpex.nl