According to the Ismea data presented at the Interbranch Table Grape Committee, the Russian ban and lower competitiveness affected table grape exports, which dropped by 12% in 2014 with respect to the previous year. (click here to read the full report).
Italian Grapes
The domestic production
Just over one million tons of table grapes were produced in 2014, i.e. 98% of the total Italian supply (the remaining 2% came from imports). 38% was destined for consumption, 15% to the processing industry and 43% was exported. In terms of value, the production reached €585 million.
90% of Italian grapes are produced in Apulia and Sicily, cultivated on 24,427 and 9,779 hectares respectively. Producers own on average 2 hectares but in the Taranto, Catania and Caltanissetta provinces the figure is significantly higher reaching 4.22, 3.57 and 3.42 hectares/producer respectively.
Below charts in Italian:
Where Italian grapes are produced. (FreshPlaza processing of Ismea data)
Over the years, Italy lost some competitiveness to Turkey and Greece. Between 2002 and 2014, cultivated areas decreased so much that production dropped by 2.3% every year. Turkey and Greece grew instead by 1.8 and 3.2% respectively.
Between 2010 and 2014, cultivated areas dropped by almost 20 thousand hectares, mainly in Apulia.
The situation is slightly better on the price front, as the average increased. 96% of volumes were sold when the Italian produce was available (between July and January) at an average price lower than €2.60/kg. Counterseasonal sales between February and June represented 4% of the total with an average price of €3.50/kg.
Exports
Italy is the third exporting country worldwide both in terms of volume and value, just behind Chile and the US. In 2014, 26% of exports were destined to Germany, 19% to France, 9% to Poland and 6% to Spain.
Even though since 2010 the value of exports increased for the two leading exporter countries, it remained substantially the same for Italy. Volumes decreased between 2005 and 2015 (-1.3%), just like for Greece (-2.1%), Mexico, Germany and Brazil but unlike South Africa (+2.9%), China (+21.9%), Spain (+2.8%), Egypt (+18.5%), Turkey (+5.8%), India (+11.4%) and Australia. Exports were stable for Chile and the US.
The Russian ban
Rather than causing a drop in demand, the Russian ban led to a change in origin.
Imports from Italy decreased by 90%. Shipments from Chile and South Africa decreased by 33% and 27% respectively, whereas those from Turkey (+21%), Peru (+15%), India (+20%), Moldavia (+15%) and Egypt (+22%) rose.
For Italy, this meant that 2014 was one of the worst years in terms of exports in the past 15 years.
Author: Andrea Minghelli
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