Citrus prices plummet in Spain, farmers ask for import ban

Fresh Orange

Fruits

Spain

Regulation & Compliances

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 28, 2024

Tridge summary

Agricultural organizations in Spain, particularly the Valencia Farmers Association (AVA-ASAJA), are raising alarms over the plummeting prices of oranges and tangerines, which have fallen below production costs due to increased imports from third countries like Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa. They argue that the EU's trade agreements facilitate unfair competition, severely impacting local producers. In response, they demand immediate government intervention for financial support, a thorough investigation into the price drops, and a reevaluation of existing trade agreements. This crisis is set against a backdrop of reduced citrus production due to adverse climate conditions and comes at a time when the EU is considering higher tariffs on imports from Russia and Belarus to protect its market.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Increased controls on imports of oranges and tangerines from third countries are being requested by the agricultural organizations of Spain. They argue that producer prices in Spain appear from the data they have collected to have a sharp drop to below-cost prices this month. They are asking the government of Madrid for an emergency financial support for the sector for the loss of income of the producers. Also the Farmers Association of Valencia (AVA-ASAJA) is asking the regional and national administration to carry out an in-depth investigation to clarify the causes of the sharp drop in producer prices of citrus fruits in the country. According to the Valencia citrus market, prices for oranges have fallen in March by as much as 30%. Specifically for oranges of the Navel and Lane Late variety, the producer price from 0.36 was reduced to 0.25 euros per kilo. Valencia then started cutting with a producer price of 0.21 euros/kg, which is also lower than the cost of production. As for ...

Source: Agrotypos