As the weeks go by, stone fruit keeps losing ground to top fruit on the market shelves. When it comes to prices, in the Lonja del Ebro, pears still cost between 40 and 75 cents per kilo, and apples also stay at between 35 and 45 cents. Extra Reinette apples have just arrived and cost 45 cents per kilo; a much lower price than last year, when it reached 85 cents in the same week.
As for stone fruit, the yellow-fleshed peach stays at 50 cents, nectarines at 60 cents, just like Paraguayo peaches, and plums cost between 55 and 85 cents per kilo, depending on the variety.
Slight increases were recorded at the Melon and Watermelon Lonja of Castile-La Mancha. Melon prices oscillate between 13 and 47 cents per kilo, and the price of watermelons stands between 12 and 25 cents, depending on the variety.
In Alicante, the first Valencian pomegranates have already been purchased, with prices ranging between 52 and 58 cents per kilo, as reported by the Council of Agriculture of the Region of Valencia.
National average prices
According to the Weekly Report of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for week 38, which corresponds to the week between September 16 and 22, the price of Extremaduran plums has fallen at the end of the season (-36.09%), while peaches have become slightly more expensive (3.36%).
Also rising this week is the average price at origin of Golden apples (4.56%), while that of Blanquilla pears has dropped (-3.65%), which accuses the descent in Rioja.
MAP production estimates
The latest production forecasts from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAP), with data as of July 31, reveal that production estimates show increases in plums (+14.2%), nectarines (+6.6%), apples (+3.3%) and peaches (+0.3%). Meanwhile, apricots (-27.3%), figs (-16%), cherries (-9.9%) and pears (-4.3%) record drops.
By autonomous regions, the apple production in Catalonia, the main producer nationwide, will amount to 292,673 tons, 7.2% more than in the 2018 campaign. In Aragon, the volume is falling to 85,624 tons; in Galicia, it will reach 60,000 tons, compared to the 50,421 of 2018; and in Castile-León, the apple production stands at 46,905 tons.
The MAP has estimated this season's pear production at 323,725 tons, 3.8% less than in the previous one. The pear production in Catalonia, the largest producer nationwide, will amount to 134,230 tons, 1.1% less than in 2018; that of Aragon is also falling and stands at 51,158 tons (55,701 tons in 2018) and that of La Rioja will fall to 50,600 tons, a much smaller volume than in 2018.
Source: agropopular.com
