The Spanish mango season is underway with slow sales due to high market prices, which are the result of a drop in the production. That same slowdown in the demand is causing prices to fall.
"Although the harvest has been significantly small due to the lower yields, the drop is not as severe as last year's and not as drastic as predicted at the beginning of the season," says Antonio Fernando Prados, manager of the Malaga company Axarquía Tropical.
The high level of speculation in the mango trade has led to exorbitant market prices. "Prices have risen quite a lot and sales are slow. So much so, that there are still mangoes on the trees waiting to be harvested. In fact, due to this situation, prices have now been falling," says the grower and trader.
"When there is too much speculation, everything becomes more difficult and uncertain and you can't have fluidity in the markets or reasonable margins for all links in the chain. You can't sell at such high prices with the desired fluidity; this is something that will happen with any product," says Prados.
At the moment, Axarquia Tropical is working with Osteen mangoes, which it hopes to have available until the end of the first week of October. After that, they will continue with the Keitt variety, whose yields haven't been as affected by climatic anomalies as those of the Osteen, because it flowers later. The Keitt will be available until mid-November.
For now, Spanish mangoes compete mainly with Brazil's, with a remarkable difference in terms of price and quality. "This year, we are expecting a good volume of Peruvian Kent mangoes, which will probably mean that imports will start earlier compared to previous seasons," says Antonio Fernando.
For more information:
Antonio Fernando Prados
Axarquia Tropical
C/ Peñuelas 2
29793 Torrox Costa
Malaga, Spain
Tel.: +34 616 444 740
[email protected]
www.axarquiatropical.com