Spanish fruit and vegetable exports during the third quarter of 2010 increased by 13 per cent compared with same period a year before, thanks in the main to a strong recovery in stonefruit and watermelon sales.
Between July and September, Spain’s fresh produce exports totalled 1.5m tonnes, equivalent to a 41 per cent rise in value to E1.3m, which producer-exporter federation Fepex said marked a “major improvement” from 2009.
The results also signaled a recovery in export sales compared with the earlier part of the year, when fruit and vegetable shipments in the months to June had fallen by 9 per cent year-on-year.
According to Fepex, the month that followed was notable for the beginning of a reverse in Spanish export fortunes, with sales rising by 5 per cent in July, 22 per cent in August and 13 per cent in September from the same period a year earlier.
In a statement, the federation said the change was principally due to the positive performance of watermelon and stonefruit exports, with the former up by 44 per cent year-on-year to 255,157 tonnes and the latter rising by 21 per cent to 461,221 tonnes.
Countries within the European Union currently account for 94 per cent of Spain’s fresh produce export sales, with Germany, France and the UK together receiving an estimated 55 per cent of total exports.
