The second part of the mandarin season is already kicking off with the arrival of the Clemenvilla and the harvest of the first Tango and Nadorcott mandarins. Both in terms of production and marketing, the circumstances are very different to last year's. The demand has skyrocketed with the arrival of cold weather and the spike in flu cases over the past two weeks, but the supply will be greater from now on.
"In the first part of the season, we have had more Oronules and Clemenules than expected, which caused a misalignment in the marketing calendar and a clear delay in the transition between the different varieties. This is why the marketing of the Clemenvilla and Tango started later," says José Ramón Mechó, Commercial Director of Agribur, a specialist in clementines and mandarins with leaf.
According to the producer and exporter, while the weather has generally been favorable for varieties like the Clemenules, it has caused more complications for the Clemenvilla and led to a lot of fruit being discarded, affected in some cases by the presence of pathologies such as the 'clareta'. However, pests have generally been under greater control this year.
"Clementine prices have generally been high in the first part of the season, as the prices paid at origin have also been very high, although in a context marked by inflation, which affects the purchasing power of consumers, there has been increasing downward pressure as we approached the second part of the season. The lower production of oranges caused their prices to skyrocket and the demand to fall. The campaign has been more challenging than the previous one, and the volume of business is already down by about 30%," says Mechó.
"The Tango, Nadorcott and Orri productions are expected to be much greater than last year, with a predominance of medium sizes, and while prices last season tended to rise, this year the situation is already such that the supply is exceeding the demand, and I doubt it will be an easy season," says the producer and exporter.
"In fact, starting prices are already lower compared to last year. The harvest prospects are causing the buying and selling to slow down and speculation to stop. This is a season in which purchases at origin should be carried out no more than two weeks in advance, depending on how the market develops," he says.
Based in La Vall d’Uixó, in the Spanish province of Castellon, Agribur has two packaging centers: Agribur, where only clementines and mandarins with leaf are handled, and its sister company Storemech, where oranges and leafless mandarins are processed and packaged. The company, which recently made some investments to expand its production capacity at its headquarters, is achieving constant growth. In fact, it has doubled its turnover in the last 4 years, reaching 40 million euros.
"We expect to handle about 30 million kilos this year, although we already have the capacity to handle twice as much," says its commercial director. "Our goal is to continue expanding our own production to be able to control the entire process vertically and better plan the marketing, which will put us in an increasingly advantageous position," he says.
For more information:
José R. Mechó
Agribur S.L.
Ctra. Burriana- Segorbe, km. 23.5.
La Vall d'Uixó (Castellón). Spain.
T: +34 964670215
M: +34 669819149
[email protected]
www.agribur.es