Spanish lemon production is expected to bounce back in 2016/17 after dropping sharply last season due to adverse weather conditions. Provisional results released by Ailimpo show that output for 2015/16 totalled 802,000 tonnes, a fall of 30 per cent on the record 2013/14 harvest of 1,154,000 tonnes.
Exports fell by 21 per cent to 530,000 tonnes. However, the overall turnover on fresh lemon exports increased by 15 per cent to €640m due to the higher prices generating “exceptional” returns for growers.
“The campaign that we are closing can be viewed as an anomaly and exceptional in terms of both volume as well as returns,” Ailimpo said. “Moreover, the campaign closed earlier than expected in June, whereas Spanish lemons are usually present on the market until the end of July”.
The interprofessional said the lower volume had forced companies to prioritise “traditional and consolidated clients”. Germany was once again the top destination for Spanish lemons, followed by France, the UK, Italy and Poland.
The smaller crop resulted in shipments to non-EU markets shrinking by 50 per cent, though “business activities were maintained with 48 countries outside the EU, albeit at inferior volumes, which demonstrates the dynamics of the commercial sector and trend toward diversifying destinations for Spanish lemons”.
The top non-EU countries for Spanish lemons included Switzerland, Canada, the US, UAE and Brazil.
“There is also a prominent positive trend growing in the national marketplace, marked by a 10 per cent increase in consumption and confirmation of an apparent growing interest by consumers in lemons as a product identified with a more youthful and healthy lifestyle”, Ailimpo said.
Spain is the world's second largest lemon producer behind Argentina and supplies four out of every 10 lemons exported around the globe.
