Spanish Cherries May Face Competition with Turkish Cherries in 2022
The 2022 season of Spanish cherries has begun, and producers are satisfied with current market prices ranging from USD 7.12/kg to USD 9.67/kg, depending on the variety and quality. Unfavorable weather conditions, such as frost, low temperatures in March, and heavy rainfall, caused the delayed harvest. Compared to last year, the harvest is 10-12 days late. The regions hardest hit by the weather are Alicante, Zaragoza, and Lleida. At the same time, other areas like Jerte Valley, Extremadura, the Ebro Valley, Lleida, and Aragon have had stable production this season.
Source: TradeMap
It is estimated that the production of fresh cherries in Spain will be lower by about 30% this year due to the negative impact of climatic factors, but good fruit quality is expected. According to data for 2020, Spain produced 82.1K mt of fresh cherries and ranked 8th in world production with a 3.15% share. As for exports, it has grown in previous years. Quantities of fresh cherries that went to the UK rose 51.97% YoY from 4.8K mt in MY 2020 to 10.1K mt in MY 2021, and 63.65% for Germany from 3.3K mt to 9.2K mt. The proximity to the UK makes Spain a more suitable trading partner than Turkey for cherries. Faced with rising production costs, producers and traders are also concerned about competition from Turkey. Fresh cherry production in Turkey is growing steadily. Between 2016-2020, production increased by 35.35% to 724.9K mt MY 2020. The production growth is due to the constant expansion of planted areas under cherries. According to data for MY 2021, Turkey exported 24.5K mt to Germany, while just 832mt went to the UK and 22.67K mt of sweet cherries to Russia. Due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Spanish traders are worried that Turkey will redirect export quantities meant for Russia toward the European market. Although Turkish cherries are of lower quality than Spanish ones, the competitive prices range from USD 1.58/kg to USD 2.35/kg, according to Tridge Price Data in W3 May-22, and high supply can impact the competition significantly.
Cherries are a seasonal product available for several months with high perishable attributes. For the production of cherries, the best-suited soils are deep and loose, slightly acidic, neutral, or slightly alkaline reactions (pH 5.0 - 7.0), alluvial soils, sandy loams, brownish redness, and porous limestone. Climate conditions are the determinant factor for successful production, and the Mediterranean climate is most suitable for cherries. For CY 2022, in many regions of Southern Europe, frost hit cherry orchards. Frost during flowering and heavy rains in the ripening of fruits of cherries can lower yield and quality remarkably. In Spain, producers are constantly working on introducing new varieties to extend the season. Early types dominate the Ebro Valley, Lleida, or Jerte Valley areas. June is when the offer is the strongest, and then cherries from Turkey, Greece, and Italy enter the scene and other EU countries where cherries are grown.
It is too early to assess the impact of Turkish cherries on this year's market situation. The harvest in Turkey is expected to be delayed for almost a month due to lower temperatures during spring. Turkey is investing in production capacity, but there is still room to improve the irrigation systems and introduce more modern varieties. Another issue facing Turkish cherries is logistics, and more extended traveling of trucks to reach further west of Germany will also impact the quality of cherries.
