This has been expressed to Efe by Acopaex's president, Domingo Fernández, who has indicated that this is due to lower production of tomatoes in some competing countries, mainly in China.
Fernandez explained that, for several years, the Asian giant had been producing a lot of tomatoes, but the Chinese Executive - that controls crops - decided to take the
drastic decision to reduce it by 50% last year.
drastic decision to reduce it by 50% last year.
With this decision, the international market has "missed" the Chinese product, favouring, in turn, Extremadura producers, since the 30% increase forecast is not only for Acopaex, but also for the rest of the Extremadura sector.
The head of Acopaex recalled that the Chinese tomato is cheaper than the European one because they have another way of producing, and also it is the State who pays for everything, affecting production and personnel costs.
Acopaex's main tomato markets are the European countries of Germany, Italy, Britain and Russia where they sell 80% of their total production, 80,000,000 total kilos in 2012.
Therefore, the fact that recent years have been "good" for exports has also meant that they were also good for the company's turnover.
Furthermore, and in relation to Carcesa-which was officially acquired by Acopaex, Tomates del Guadiana and Extremadura Avante last January-Domingo Fernández said that they are still in the process of "developing" a future plan.
Extremadura's tomato production is the most important at national level, and this product is one of the community's most important crops, both in national and international sales.
Source: Efe