The Spanish cucumber prices have been rising this week and the situation has gone from fair to really good in just four days.
On Monday this week, cucumbers of the Almeria variety already stood 7 cents higher than last week, when it didn't reach 30 cents. The average price paid at the moment already reaches 55 cents per kilo in the major auctions. The Spanish variety has increased even more, from 44 cents to almost 80 cents right now. The French variety has increased from 55 to almost 90 cents a kilo in just six days.
High temperatures have caused plants to produce faster, resulting in great stocks up until late December. At present, the production is being regulated in the field.
Nevertheless, there has been some tension in the sector over the past few weeks due to confronting opinions when it comes to adopting anti-crisis measures to tackle the stagnant cucumber prices. While some organizations and cooperatives were in favour of throwing away up to 15% of the available volume as an anti-crisis measure, other companies had objected because the product was already sold and they even needed to buy from third parties at specific times to complete their programs.
"The companies like us that have properly planned their volume have no reason to throw the production away; we see that as a disgrace for the sector," explained an exporter who wished to remain anonymous. "There were companies with over one million kilos in stock during the last 3 weeks, with cucumber harvested just 5 or 6 days earlier."
"It is worth recalling, as a structural factor, that over the last ten years, thanks to the support given by the government for improvements in greenhouses, the sector has increasingly more kilos in January than in November. It is something that we have to keep in mind," he points out.
