The strawberry sector invoiced in this campaing a 15% more, surpassing the 454M€

The strawberry sector in Huelva has closed the economic period of the 2016-2017 campaign with a total of 454,665,000 euros, a turnover that represents an increase close to 15% compared to the previous season, as reported by the Association of Producers and Exporters of the Fresa de Huelva, Freshuelva. Strawberry production has also grown, albeit slightly (2% more), although planted hectares have fallen by 7%, reaching a total of 302,500 tonnes.

2016-2017 has been a campaign with a very positive first part and a second more problematic one, with incidences on the volume exported and the final prices that have suffered in a remarkable way, although, overall, the campaign has been with positive data.

The sum of the volume collected between December and January was on the order of 50% less than in the same period of the previous campaign, although it must be remembered that the 2015/16 campaign started with exceptionally high volumes.

In February, the low temperatures favored the cultivation, both in terms of quality, and the containment of the volume to be collected, favoring the maintenance of prices

For its part, March was a month very similar to the last campaign in terms of volumes and average price.

In April, problems arose due to excessive heat, which led to a significant increase in production, which also led to the abandonment of plots due to the lack of personnel for harvesting the strawberry

In May and in June volumes significantly decreased, while strawberries from other countries appeared strongly in European markets, such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany or Belgium. This, coupled with the high temperatures, led to the completion of the campaign.

The two main destinations of the Huelva strawberry are still Germany and France, with 30 and 20% of total exports, respectively, with the United Kingdom in third place with 13%

Balance of other berries

The production of raspberries was 18,800 t, an increase of 18% compared to the previous season.

The price of this berry, however, declined an average of 15%, although the turnover has been paid with an increase of 4.5%, with a total of 125,475,000 euros

In this case, it should be noted that the area planted increased by 6% to reach 1,932 hectares.

The evolution of raspberry exports (practically 95% of its production) has been very regular during the first months of the season, with virtually no peaks of production and adequate demand. However, during the month of May and early June, due to the appearance of local productions of other countries of destination of the raspberry and the notable increase of the volumes, due to the high temperatures, there was an accumulation of product and a great competition in the markets, which entailed a significant price decrease in the second part of the campaign.

The collection of the blackberry, in turn, began at the end of February with small amounts, increasing somewhat in March, although the months of greatest volume were April, May and early June. In total, production was 10% higher than the previous year, with a total of about 1,700 Tm, although the price fell by 25%.

Cranberry has been marked by a remarkable increase in cultivated area in this campaign, 30% specifically

This has meant that the volumes traded have increased by almost 60%, in addition to concentrating in the months of April and May, coinciding with the hot periods. All this has made the production marketed as of June 30 is about 33,000 Tm, although it is still being harvested, to a much lesser extent. The final average price has experienced, on the other hand, a decrease of 27%.

 

PRODUCTO	HECTÁREAS PLANTADAS	PRODUCCIÓN	PRECIO MEDIO
Fresa	5.460	302.500 Tm	+ 10%
Frambuesa	1.932	18.800 Tm	– 15%
Mora	160	1.700 Tm	– 25%
Arándano	2.538	33.000 Tm *	– 27%

 

* Until the month of June.

Source: Freshuelva

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