New figures published by Italian trade association Fruit Imprese suggest the country's fresh produce export trade performed strongly in June, with the business staging a dramatic recovery to record sales of €413m, a 436.5 per cent increase on the same month of 2009.
The update brings to a close a generally positive six months for the Italian fresh fruit and vegetable export industry.
Between January and June 2010, Italy exported almost 2m tonnes of fresh produce, 22.8 per cent more than during the first half of the previous year, for a total value of €1.82bn (up 20.3 per cent on the year-earlier period).
Export volumes for the first six months of 2010 were up across most product categories compared with January-June 2009, according to Fruit Imprese.
Citrus exporters enjoyed particularly strong demand, with volumes increasing 125.3 per cent year-on-year.
Exported volumes of vegetables (+25.7 per cent) and dried fruit (+22 per cent) were also up on the year, while for the fresh fruit category volumes rose by 12.2 per cent.
Imports for the first half of the year, meanwhile, fell both in volume (-5.6 per cent) and value (-2 per cent) terms compared with the first six months of 2009.
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