The PGI Regulating Council “Valencian Citrus Fruits” values the first part of the campaign as “disappointing”.
Both the Russian veto and unfair competition from third countries, along with pressure by large retailers, were important handicaps for the sector during this period.
According to the Managing Director of PGI “Valencian Citrus Fruits”, Enrique Sanz, “in spite of the drop in production, the commercial development of the start of the campaign was not what we expected. Although at specific points, there have been some good prices, the market has shown no continuity”.
In the opinion of this organisation’s spokesperson, “2015 has not left behind a good impression for Valencian citrus fruit growers, due to competition from Egypt, Morocco or Turkey, countries that have entered the European market with very few plant protection controls and that have some very low production costs, therefore they are committing ‘social dumping’”.
In addition, the PGI holder also explained that “the first part of the orange and mandarin campaign was characterised by an optimum trade demand on the international markets, although at the end of November and December prices became very irregular, along with the number of commercial operations. In the case of lemons, this year the prices have been good for the produce and the demand is agile and fluid for this produce on foreign markets”.
Within the same context, José Enrique Sanz also stated that “the important challenge that the Valencian citrus fruit sector has at present is the consolidation of new export markets such as Canada, the Arab Emirates or the Asian markets, which could become the perfect complement to the European Union market”.
“Taking into account the prices in the fields, we have good commercial expectations for the late varieties of oranges in the second part of the campaign”, José Enrique Sanz stated.
