Spanish producers are taking steps to address the serious over production of cucumber in Almeria which has blighted the market so far this autumn and led producers to demonstrate with road blocks in their region.
Grower and exporter organisations signed an agreement on November 7 binding their members to destruction of 15 per cent of their production and fixing the minimum price at e0.25 a kilo until further notice.
The effects were already being felt on the marketplace just two days later. “The prices have already started to creep up which suggests that the combined strategy of agreeing a minimum price and withdrawal is bearing fruit,” said a spokeswoman for Coexphal, the producer-exporters’ association in the south-eastern Spanish region.
Continuing unseasonably warm weather has been blamed for overproduction and temperatures in October climbed to day-time highs of 27°C and night-time lows of 18°C. Warm weather in the Netherlands and Belgium has meant that growers have been able to produce much later in their season creating an overlap in availability on export markets, increased competition and downward price pressure.
“The latest forecasts are for cooler weather here by the weekend, which should also help the situation,” the spokeswoman said for Coexphal.
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