The Spanish-French-Italian peach, nectarine and apricot contact group will meet next Thursday, 18 May, in Montpellier, France to evaluate the results of last year's campaign, among other topics.
Other issues to be addressed at the meeting will be the varietal innovation programs developed in the three countries or the different actions carried out in the field of sectoral research.
FEPEX will provide the data for 2016, when 1,039,067 tonnes of stonefruit were exported; 2% less than in 2015, worth 1,095 million Euro (-1%), with these figures including data for peaches, nectarines, plums and cherries. Cherries and plums are not included in the scope of the contact group.
Of this amount, 418,814 tonnes corresponded to nectarines (11% less than in 2015), which were worth 413.4 million Euro (-8%); 407,402 tonnes corresponded to peaches (+7%) worth 387 million Euro (+7%) and apricots reached 80,010 tonnes), the same amount as in 2015, worth 115.3 million Euro (+1%).
Germany, France and Italy were the main destinations for the Spanish exports of peaches, nectarines and apricots in 2016. The volume of nectarines exported to Germany stood at 115,532 tonnes; that to France stood at 74,028 tonnes and that to Italy reached 39,426 tonnes. The export of peaches to Germany amounted to 104,990 tonnes; that to France reached 69,835 tonnes and that to Italy 46,221 tonnes. Lastly, apricot shipments to Germany amounted to 22,686 tonnes; those to France reached 17,449 tonnes and those to Italy totalled 12,391 tonnes, according to data from the General Directorate of Customs, processed by FEPEX.
In the non-EU environment, 2016 was the first year in which stonefruit has been exported to China. The shipments consisted of 779 tonnes of plums, 29 tonnes of peaches and 22 tonnes of nectarines.
The Spanish-French-Italian peach and nectarine group is one of the contact groups created within the framework of the Joint Committee, whose objective is to be a forum for dialogue between producers in the three countries, to analyse the main problems affecting the productions and to propose joint solutions. This year, apricots are in the spotlight for the group.
Source: fepex.es
