Total Spanish fruit and vegetable exports increased by 10.5 per cent in value last year to over €8.6m compared with 2009, in spite of a difficult campaign marked by a sharp fall in sales during the first half of the year.
Although shipments experienced a “significant” fall in the eight months to September, a strong recovery in the final quarter of the year meant that total exported volumes only decreased by 0.2 per cent year-on-year to 9.5m tonnes.
However, export results clearly varied by categories. While fruit exports for the year increased by 3.6 per cent to 5.7m tonnes, vegetable export volumes dropped by 5.5 per cent to 3.7m tonnes, according to data from Spanish export federation Fepex.
Tomatoes were undoubtedly one of the products most affected by the fall in sales during 2010, with export volumes dropping to 739,903 – a 15 per cent decrease compared with the year before.
In a statement, Fepex said an unfavourable climate had been partly to blame for the difficulties earlier in the year, explaining that improved weather during the last quarter aided the ordered development of campaigns and encouraged greater consumption among shoppers.
The organisation also noted that Spanish exporters achieved a strong increase in export sales to Portugal, Poland and Sweden, by 15 per cent, 8 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.
