It is still very quiet in the European lemon and grapefruit markets, with slow demand and falling prices for the Spanish production, which is affected by an overall reduction in sizes.
"France is our main export destination. Consumption there has been notably affected by the torrential rains and floods in the north in recent weeks. It is understandable, given that people are not going out as much to buy groceries, not to mention the logistical complications that the bad weather is causing," said María Dolores Pelegrín, a partner in the Murcian company Apemar.
A hot and dry summer and autumn have resulted in a lack of large sizes in all citrus species, including lemon and grapefruit. Also, the lemon yield has increased compared to the previous season, resulting in more pieces per tree, which makes it difficult for the fruits to grow to larger calibers.
According to María Dolores Pelegrín, the abundance of small and medium sizes is also causing problems for the fruit's sale.
"There are countries that always prefer large calibers, which are becoming scarce. Such is the case of Poland, for example, one of our main grapefruit export destinations, where the demand has slowed down considerably. Besides, there are hardly any batches of South African grapefruit left in Europe."
"In general, prices are somewhat higher compared to this same period last season, but they continue to fall every week, as many producers are panicking for fear of not being able to sell their productions, given the low demand. This also ends up affecting the prices of larger sizes, which are very hard to find this year," he says.
"We hope that sales will improve again ahead of the Christmas campaign, a period in which there are usually more programs for the marketing of lemon in meshes, which would provide an outlet for larger quantities of small lemons," said Pelegrín.
The Murcian company markets around 60 million kilos of lemons and grapefruit annually, both from Spain and overseas.
For more information:
María Dolores Pelegrín
FRUTAS APEMAR, S.L.
M: +34 609656551
T: +34 968 379 490
[email protected]
www.apemar.com