At the beginning of March, the tangerine and clementine season traditionally comes to a close: the presence of the Spanish Nadorcott, Tango and Murcott and the Israeli Orri visibly diminished. The importance of Turkish Murcott and Moroccan Nadorcott also diminished noticeably. The quality of the offerings increasingly left something to be desired. The sales options had also become limited, and a certain customer saturation could no longer be denied.
Overall, business was very unexciting. Despite the reduced availability, demand was met without difficulty. With the help of discounts granted, sellers tried to speed up turnover and reduce inventories, but this was not always successful. Price increases were very sporadic.
Apples
Domestic offerings continued to form the basis of supply, with Elstar, Jonagold and Boskoop leading the way. Kanzi and Wellant had gained in relevance, while Braeburn had lost some of its importance.
Pears
In terms of volume, South African imports had displaced the Italian offerings from the top of the range. However, European products still set the tone locally.
Table grapes
South African lots predominated. Shipments from Peru and Namibia completed the picture. Indian batches appeared in small quantities, but these were only of a complementary nature.
Oranges
In the case of blond oranges, Spanish fruit was the main source: Navelate, Lane Late and Salustiana, as well as various Navel varieties were mainly available. In the case of Egyptian supplies, Valencia Late increasingly replaced Naval.
Lemons
The size of the assortment sufficiently harmonized with the sales. Spanish Primofiori dominated the market.
Bananas
Slow sales characterized the week. In general, supply and demand were sufficiently balanced, so that prices did not change significantly.
Cauliflower
French and Italian shipments shared the action, Spanish offers were only available locally. French deliveries, meanwhile, were somewhat limited, while the presence of Italian deliveries seemed to have increased.
Lettuce
In the case of iceberg lettuce, the majority of deliveries were Spanish, with Turkish and Italian lettuce completing the picture. While availability had expanded in Hamburg and Cologne and prices fell as a result, prices in Munich stagnated at their previous high level.
Cucumbers
Spanish lots dominated as far as cucumbers went. Belgian and Dutch supplies followed in terms of relevance, with Greek only holding supplementary status.
Tomatoes
There continued to be a wide range of products, in which Turkey, Italy and Spain were the most important. From Morocco mainly came round tomatoes, but in terms of quality they were not always up to par. The Turkish fruits also showed deficiencies in this respect at times.
Sweet peppers
Spanish goods continued to dominate and were most likely to be flanked by Turkish imports. Moroccan offerings were limited and held only a small role.
Source:BLE