Spanish stonefruit exports have increased by 30 per cent during the first half of this year’s campaign, with cherry, plum, nectarine, peach and apricot shipments reaching 277,060 tonnes during April, May and June compared with the same period a year before.
National export association Fepex reported that the value of stonefruit exports rose by 34 per cent to €340m, with the largest increase seen in the plum sector where export volumes grew by 48 per cent year-on-year to 24,309 tonnes.
The export increase was all the more significant, said the association, given the major challenges Spain’s fresh produce sector has faced in recent months, including persistent rains and last June’s national transport strike.
Quoting Spain’s director general of customs, Fepex said apricot exports also rose by 28 per cent to over 26,586 tonnes, cherries by 27 per cent to 8,866 tonnes, peach shipments by 28 per cent to 84,432 tonnes and nectarines by 31 per cent to 132,871 tonnes.
The region of Extremadura experienced some of the most impressive export growth, with volumes rising by 71 per cent year-on-year to 22,515 tonnes, while Murcia also increased its stonefruit exports by 31 per cent to 74,261 tonnes.
But while stonefruit export volumes have risen, Spain’s overall fresh produce shipments fell by 2 per cent to over 5.2m tonnes, with exports of fruit in particular dropping by 13 per cent.
Fepex said that returns for several major products have also fallen, including onion by 56 per cent, lettuce by 23 per cent and tomato by 10 per cent compared with the same period last year. The agency said the fall in returns coincided with a “strong increase” in the cost of production in Spain.
