According to a report from the Spanish news service Hortoinfo, in 2022, Morocco overtook Spain as a tomato supplier in the EU after surpassing the volume of Spanish tomatoes sold in the Community market for the first time ever.
Over the past decade, the Netherlands and Spain have led tomato exports to the EU. In 2013 they sold 1,579.04 million kilos of tomatoes in the EU, accounting for 60% of the EU's tomato offer. 861.18 million corresponded to Dutch sales and 717.86 million kilos to Spanish ones. However, Morocco has been reducing the gap with Spain year after year and approaching the Dutch figures.
Last year, in particular, EU Member States acquired 2,649.53 million kilos of tomatoes for €4,525.1 million.
The Netherlands was the leading supplier with 644.01 million kilos, 217.17 million kilos less than in 2013 (-25.22%). The value of these sales stood at 1,279.83 million euros and an average price of €1.99/kg. In 2013, Dutch tomato sales amounted to 1,061.37 million euros and had an average price of €1.23/kg.
Morocco has positioned itself as the second-largest supplier of tomatoes in 2022, with the sale of 558.27 million kilos, i.e., 71.33% more than in 2013.
Thus, Spain became the EU's third-biggest tomato supplier with 513.84 million kilos, i.e., 28.42% less volume than in 2013. However, despite this reduction in tomato volume, the value of Spanish tomato sales increased by 126.31 million euros compared to 2013 (+15.57%), going from 811.36 million euros and an average price of €1.13/kg in 2013 to 937.67 million and an average price of €1.82/kg in 2022.
Source: hortoinfo.es