Growing Turkish and Moroccan competition for Spanish tomatoes

The tomatoes grown in greenhouses in southern Spain are facing more competition in the European markets, mostly due to the recovery of the Turkish and Moroccan productions after the break caused by the recent cold temperatures.

According to the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Andalusian Government, Turkish tomatoes have been diversifying their destinations after the veto imposed by Russia, expanding into Eastern European countries, where they compete in terms of price with Almerian tomatoes.

The production campaign in Turkey is mainly focused on two cultivation cycles: one of autumn-winter and a second one in spring.

The most common tomatoes in Turkey are loose (or round) and on the vine tomatoes, whose quality is inferior to that of Almeria's production, but acceptable for European retail chains thanks to its lower price.

Morocco, for its part, has exported a total of 12.09 million kilos of tomatoes to the European Union (EU) in week 7; 19 percent more than in the previous week. The price in that period has reached 1.157 Euro per kilo.

Between 1 and 19 February, Morocco exported to the EU a total of 22.85 million kilos of tomatoes; 37 percent more than in the same period of the previous campaign. Overall, Moroccan tomato exports are 7 percent higher than in the 2015/16 campaign.

Most of the producers who have opted for a second melon or watermelon cycle started with their pepper crops during the month of January or early February, causing a considerable increase in the volume of green peppers available in Almeria during that period.

Producers who have opted for long-cycle pepper plantations are mainly harvesting red or yellow bell peppers in order to obtain a better price; a situation that has caused shortages of green pepper this past week.

Almeria's peppers have been dominating the European market at this time. Reduced competition from Israel since Russia vetoed EU productions in summer 2014 and the shipment of part of Morocco's production to Russia have had a positive impact on the marketing of Almeria's peppers in Europe.

The weather conditions recorded since mid-November, with many nights in which temperatures fell below 9ºC, have taken a huge toll on Almeria cucumber plantations, whose production in the month of February has been reduced.

In the international market, the Netherlands is the main competitor for the Andalusian production. The Dutch cucumber production gains market share throughout the month of February, but will not reach its peak until mid-March. From that time onwards, the European distribution centres will focus on the Dutch product, and the prices paid to Spanish producers should gradually decrease.

There is a very stable courgette consumption in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany or France, where it is very popular as an ingredient for soups and creams; however, the exorbitant prices recorded since December have ended up taking a toll on consumption.

European demand has slowed down in recent days, coinciding with a growth of Almeria's production and of the Moroccan export quota. These factors have led to a considerable depreciation of the product at origin.

Given the high prices of recent weeks, consumption has fallen and this has led to a reduction in the number of orders at origin during a few weeks in which the supply has been considerable. Large retailers have reduced their purchases in Almeria and the price received by producers has fallen drastically.

The harvest of Spanish spring plantations will start at the end of March or in early April and the production volume will peak in May.

Morocco will increase its production of green beans in the coming weeks. The crops planted in November and December will become productive in February and March, reaching their peak in terms of volume in April.