Huelva's berry sector is one of the region's agri-food sectors that has been indirectly affected by the war. The war has forced Greece and Turkey to look for customers for the strawberry shipments they used to send to Russia and Ukraine in other markets, such as Germany where they compete directly with the strawberries from Huelva.
The delicate international situation has also affected prices at origin, an issue that was affecting the sector since before the conflict. The prices paid by consumers for all agri-food products in supermarkets have experienced sharp increases. Meanwhile, the prices being paid to producers do not reflect the consequences of the drought nor the increase in costs they have faced in this campaign (according to Asaja, the price of seeds has gone up by 20%, fertilizers and plant protection products by 150%, the cost of water has gone up by 33%, plastics and derivatives that have an expiration date due to the packaging law have increased by 46%, fuel prices have gone up by more than 80% and the cost of electricity by 270%).
“It's difficult to know to what extent the Russian invasion of Ukraine is responsible for the situation. Obviously, there is an increase in the cost that is attributable to the war, such as that relating to the costs of feed and petroleum products, affected by the sanctions imposed on Russia. However, most of the difficulties predate the war," the producers stated.
Source: diariodesevilla.es