Fresh produce export volumes from the Spanish region of Murcia, including tomatoes, peppers and grapes, experienced a sharp fall in 2007, although most of the region's products have maintained their value.
According to newly-released figures from Murcian fruit and vegetable producer-exporter association Proexport, year-on-year tomato export volumes fell by 12.8 per cent 150,000 tonnes, pepper shipments dropped by 18.2 per cent to 62,200 tonnes and grape exports fell by 18.6 per cent to 57,000 tonnes.
More seriously, exported volumes of artichokes slumped by over 42 per cent to 3,100 tonnes, while volumes of peaches dropped by almost 21 per cent to 32,400 tonnes. Melon exports, however, rose by nearly 11.4 per cent to 186,000 tonnes. Overall, the total volume of fruit and vegetable exports from the region fell by 5.3 per cent to just over 1.8m tonnes compared with more than 1.9m tonnes in 2006.
Despite the slump in volumes, most products maintained or increased their profitability, with total exports generating over €1.4m – similar figure to 2006.
