The average price paid in April to tomato producers has doubled compared to that of the same month last year, making it practically the only product that has escaped the overall downward trend observed in the greenhouse horticultural sector of the province of Almeria (besides melons and watermelons, whose first batches of the spring season have been sold for higher prices than those recorded at the beginning of last year).
According to the latest Report on Protected Horticulture prepared by the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Andalusian Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, in the first week of the month, the average price at origin for tomatoes stood at 0.99 Euro per kilo, while in the same week last year the price reached 0.47 Euro.
During the second week, the price of the product stood at 0.88 Euro per kilo, twice as much as a year earlier, when it reached 0.44 Euro. These prices are also the best of the last triennium in the first half of April.
Moreover, with the exception of January, when average prices at origin reached their best results, the different tomato varieties are outperforming the monthly records observed throughout the campaign, since the long life, on the vine, smooth, pear and ribbed have all reached higher prices in April than in any other month (except in January, as pointed out above).
The most significant price increases have been recorded by pear and ribbed tomatoes, which have exceeded the Euro per kilo.
The report from the Andalusian administration points to the lack of competition that Almeria is facing in the market at this time of year as the reason for the "exceptionally high" prices reached by tomatoes in April.
As explained by the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Council of Agriculture, "the delay of the Dutch production has greatly favoured the marketing of tomatoes of Almerian origin, which meet the quality standards of the final stage of cultivation."
According to the report, experts in the sector "believe that this factor will continue to have a positive influence throughout the month of April, until the Netherlands is in full production."
Source: ideal.es