Spain's fresh fruit and vegetable imports from the European Union dropped 17 per cent in value to €135.1m during the January-February period, according to statistics from the country's General Directorate of Customs, processed by Fepex.
While EU imports fell, those from third countries outside of the bloc actually climbed 17 per cent in value to €292.6m.
Morocco topped the table in terms of third-county exports to Spain with €154m of produce through the opening two months of 2018, up 13 per cent year-on-year, followed by Peru (€35.5m) and Costa Rica (€24.1m).
From the EU, France and Italy were the main suppliers, with €46.6m (-34 per cent) and €22.6m (-6%) respectively.
Overall Spanish fruit and vegetable imports grew by 4 per cent in volume and by 1.5 per cent in value compared with the previous year, totaling 516,709 tonnes and €427.8m respectively.
'The continued growth of Spanish imports shows, on the one hand, greater foreign competition of countries with schedules and crops coinciding with Spanish production, and on the other, the need to adopt urgent measures to improve competitiveness,' Fepex noted.
