The Short-term Outlook Report for EU agricultural markets, published last July by the European Commission, had worrying data for the EU's tomato sector.
According to the document, in 2021 the EU's fresh tomato production is expected to decrease by 2% over 2020 - which represents a 5.2% decrease compared to the average production of the last 5 years, driven by a 10% drop in production in Spain, the largest fresh tomato producer in the EU, and a 2% drop in production in France.
Fresh tomato exports, which have been declining since 2013, will also decrease. In fact, exports in 2021 are expected to decrease by a record 21% over 2020 and stand at 350,000 tons. In the last five years, community tomato exports have declined by 27%.
The sharp drop in 2021 is due to the decline in shipments to the United Kingdom, which, according to the Commission's Report, has fallen by 37% between January and April 2021 compared to the same period in 2020; a considerable figure considering that the UK is the main market for EU tomato exporters, with 52% of the total share.
Meanwhile, the EU will import 664,0000 tons of fresh tomatoes, i.e. 7% more than in 2020 and 18% more than the average of the last five years. The report highlights the growth of purchases from Turkey, which in the period from January to April 2021 increased by 36% over the same period of 2020.
According to Fepex, the European Commission's outlook reports, which are periodically published, are a good way to get informed about the situation of the different agricultural sectors in the EU. However, they added, the EU must take measures to tackle the problems detected, such as the critical situation of the tomato, which goes beyond specific campaign issues.
Source: fepex.es
