The harsh weather conditions and severe frosts of recent weeks have taken a huge toll on the winter vegetable production in France, Greece and especially Italy, causing sharp price increases in all markets due to a lack of supply. In Spain, the biggest impact was caused by the floods recorded in mid-December in the Levant, which brought the export of some products, such as lettuce, to a temporary halt.
Crops have been frozen by the cold in much of Europe. In Spain, the horticultural production has been reduced by about 20%, and it is feared that the cold wave of these days may further worsen the situation in areas of the Levant and Andalusia. That would negatively affect the supply and the ability to meet foreign demand and domestic consumption, which are already suffering a price increase.
The severe frosts have particularly damaged the production of spinach, cauliflower, artichokes, cabbage and celery. Italy has been heavily affected, as it is the main producer of some of these foods and has seen the weather conditions ruining between 50% and 60% of the harvest in parts of the south of the country.
Italy is the EU's largest fruit and vegetable producer, with 24 million tonnes, of which about 13 million correspond to vegetables. Approximately 30% of this volume is intended for export and the rest covers the domestic demand. Due to the damage caused, Italy has had to rely on imports in order to meet its domestic demand.
This scenario has led to rising imports from third countries, such as Morocco or the United States, across the EU, and in the case of the United Kingdom, at very high prices. Spain, with a total fruit and vegetable production amounting to 18 million tonnes and average exports standing at 12.3 million, of which 5.5 correspond to vegetables, has benefited from this situation with an increase in its sales. What matters most is that prices have doubled and even tripled compared to the same period of the previous campaign, mostly due to the lack of supply.
Juan Marín, president of Proexport, fears that the low temperatures announced for the next few days could seriously affect the production and the export possibilities. Given the serious impact that frost has had on winter horticultural crops, in their view, the normalization of the situation could be delayed "until the months of March and April," when new harvests should hit the markets.
Courgette for 3 Euro
In the Spanish domestic market, prices at origin have recorded unprecedented peaks, such as the 3 Euro per kilo paid for courgettes.
Of the 5.5 million tonnes of horticultural products exported, tomatoes stand out the most, with an average of almost one million tonnes, followed by lettuce, with about 700,000 tonnes, peppers, with more than 500,000 tonnes, cucumbers, with about 450,000 tonnes, courgettes, with 260,000 tonnes, and cabbage, with close to 400,000 tonnes.
Source: elpais.com
