BERLEN: Germany has been the largest buyer of fresh vegetables exported by Almeria for decades, but in recent years its importance has continued to strengthen. Between January and October, the German market acquired vegetables from Almeria valued at 426,555 Euro, representing 32.5% of the total.
This percentage was of 28.8% in 2011, while in 2012 it increased to 30.1%, and in 2013, to 30.7%, as noted last December in a statement by the territorial delegate of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, José Manuel Ortiz.
The data processed by Extenda from Estacom’s monthly report indicates that the turnover generated by these products amounted to more than 1,310 million Euro; 2.2% less than in the same period of 2013, when Almeria reached its historical record both in terms of volume and turnover.
Despite this drop in turnover due to a reduction in prices, as highlighted by the Government of Andalusia, Almeria is still, by far, Spain’s largest exporter of fresh vegetables, with a 39% market share, followed at some distance by Murcia with 24.1%.
Behind Germany, which already accounts for one third of the province’s fresh vegetable exports, other important destinations are France, with 13.9%, the Netherlands, with 12.8%, the UK, 11.2%, Italy 6.5%, and Poland, with 4.2%.
Russia, as a result of the ban on the import of horticultural products introduced last summer, has reduced its purchases by almost 20%, but remains in 15th place, with 0.6% of Almeria’s total vegetable exports.
Regarding the export of other fresh fruits, particularly melon and watermelon, up until October Germany purchased produce valued at nearly 58.4 million Euro, representing nearly 36% of Almeria’s total sales overseas. As in the case of vegetables, France is the second largest customer, followed by the Netherlands with 9.4%, the UK with 6.5%, and Italy with 4.7%. Russia, which has reduced its purchases by 45.7%, took the fifteenth place, with 0.5% compared to 0.8% in 2013.
Almeria is the second most important Andalusian province when it comes to the value of exports of other fresh fruits, and the fifth in Spain as a whole, with a 5.4% market share, only behind Huelva, Murcia, Valencia and Lleida.
Up until October, peppers were the product exported by Almeria reaching the highest value, surpassing tomatoes. In the first ten months of 2014, the value of all pepper exports exceeded 387,600 Euro, almost 9% more than in the same period of 2013 and 18.5% of the province’s sales. During the same period, tomatoes achieved a turnover of 387,288 Euro, 4.3% less than in 2013.
