Almeria's tomatoes are still currently reaching quite low prices, and according to a report from the Andalusian Government, "the competition from other producing regions is making it difficult for them to recover."
Morocco exported tomatoes to the European Union (EU) below the minimum price established by the Trade Agreement between the EU and the north African country, which is of 0.461 Euro per kilo. This was stated in the "Follow-up report for the Protected Horticultural Sector," with regards to weeks 42 and 43, reported by the Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development. All in all, during the period in question, Morocco exported to the EU a total of 3,352 tonnes of tomatoes at an average price of 45.35 Euro per 100 kilos (0.453 Euro per kilo).
The same report indicates that tomato prices remained stable (at low levels) during the period at hand and it blames "the competition from other producing regions for the difficulty in achieving a rebound of prices at origin."
Consequently, between 14 and 20 October, ribbed tomatoes reached an average of 0.42 Euro, while the long life stood at 0.20 Euro, the smooth at 0.26 Euro, the Pear variety at 0.36 Euro and finally vine tomatoes reached 0.28 Euro per kilo. A week later, between 21 and 27 October, ribbed tomatoes were sold by 0.38 Euro per kilo, the long life by 0.22 Euro, the smooth by 0.24 Euro, the Pear by 0.38 and finally vine tomatoes stood at 0.32 Euro per kilo.
These figures are all considerably lower than last season. According to the report, the combined average during week 42 was of 0.27 Euro per kilo, compared to the 0.70 achieved a year ago. During week 43, the average price was of 0.28 Euro per kilo, exactly half of what was paid last year (0.56 Euro).
These prices also stand below the production costs for this vegetable, which COAG Almeria estimated at around 0.49 Euro per kilo cultivated.
Source: fhalmeria.com