A few days ago a group of experts on tomato forecasts in the EU met in Brussels (the group meets twice a year). Producer representatives and professional groups from the different member states in the European Commission heard Morocco’s forecasts for the 2015-2016 tomato season. Overall, tomato farming in Morocco will not see any significant changes this year.
During the meeting, Moroccan representatives, producers and groups revealed that total Moroccan tomato production would reach 803,600 tons (68% round tomatoes, 6% vine tomatoes and 26% cherry tomatoes).
Cherry tomato production is low due to high production costs - both for equipment and packaging as well as manual labour as cherry tomatoes require more availability than round tomatoes.
France and Holland said that their season would continue through until mid-November, and that the excellent summer-autumn season led to a decrease in the offer and increase in demand which allowed for prices, as of August, to increase above the five year average.
Some points on prices were discussed, such as the FEPEX (Spanish Fruit and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association) on the necessity in establishing two different import values on round and cherry tomatoes. As for Morocco, they reminded everyone that standard import value is still calculated on a daily basis instead of weekly like the European Commission had suggested.