The United States (U.S.), the Russian Federation and Germany, in that order, were the countries that imported the most tomatoes during 2014, according to data from the Statistics Division of the United Nations (UN). The total purchases of tomatoes worldwide two years ago reached a volume of 7,826 million kilos worth 7.153 million euros; an average of 0.914 euros per kilo.
Of the world's 20 largest tomato importers, the countries that pay the best prices are Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Importers
The total volume of tomatoes purchased by the U.S. last year amounted to 1,550.47 million kilos, 19.81 percent of the total, for which they paid 1,475.22 million euros, with an average price of 0.951 euros per kilo.
The world's second largest tomato buyer was Russia, with a volume of 847.18 million kilos (10.82% of the total), a value of 785.95 million euros and an average price of 0.928 euros per kilo.
In the same year, Germany bought a total of 736.38 million kilos (9.41%), paying 1,096.28 million euros for them, with an average price of 1.489 euros per kilo.
The fourth among the world's largest tomato importers was France, which imported 551.86 million kilos of this vegetable (7.05% of the total). France paid a total of 487.27 million euros, with an average of 0.883 euros per kilo.
Iraq is the fifth most important tomato importer, with 543.91 million kilos (6.95%), 177.62 million euros and an average price of 0.327 euros per kilo.
Great Britain imported 413.16 million kilos (5.28%), paying 513.80 million euros and an average price of 1.242 €/kg. Pakistan's purchases amounted to 287.41 million kilos (3.67%), paying 94.9 million euros with an average price of 0.33 euros per kilo. The Netherlands bought 231.72 million kilos (2.96%) for 266.47 million euros, with an average price of 1.15 euros per kilo. Canada ranked ninth after purchasing 202.63 million kilos of tomatoes (2.59%) for 235.81 million euros and an average price of 1.164 €/kg. The tenth place in the global ranking of tomato buyers was for the UAE, with 166.85 million kilos (2.13%) 100.26 million euros and an average price of 0.601 euros per kilo.
Spain stood in the eleventh position with 145.72 million kilos of tomatoes bought to the rest of the world (1.86%), for which the country paid 67.83 million euros at an average price of 0.465 euros per kilo.
Suppliers
The largest suppliers of tomatoes to the U.S. were Mexico, with 1,389.33 million kilos, Canada with 146.53, and Guatemala, with 10.31 million kilos. The Netherlands sold it 254,000 kilos, and Israel and Spain 37,000 and 8,000 kilos, respectively.
Russia bought its tomatoes mainly from Turkey (357.64 million kilos), China (90 million kilos) and Belarus (68.46 million kilos). It also bought 47.6 million kilos to Morocco; 35.63 million to the Netherlands and 25.2 million kilos to Spain.
Germany imported 407.2 million kilos from the Netherlands; 169.17 million from Spain, and 51.08 million kilos of tomatoes from Morocco.
Source: Hortoinfo.es