According to figures just released by Italian trade association Aneioa, citrus exports for the calendar year 2005 rose by 58.5 per cent in volume terms and by 60 per cent in value terms. Imports of citrus fruit in Italy fell by more than 28 per cent during the same period.
“One of the main reasons for the increase is because of the adverse weather conditions in Spain last year,” said Aneioa, Pietro Mauro. “Production volumes in Italy were more or less constant year on year, but because Spain was not exporting as much, there was a market advantage for us.”
The main markets that gained were Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Russia, particularly in sendings of clementines, but also the traditional Italian blood oranges.
“We think it may just have been a one-off year, but obviously we hope not,” said Mauro.
Vegetable sendings from Italy during the same period were 11 per cent down, although there was little change in value terms. And good season for kiwifruit and pears helped boost figures for the non-citrus fruit sector with an 8.5 per cent rise in values on an almost unchanged export volume.
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