W11: Weekly Tomato Update
United States
Price Increase of Roma Tomatoes in the United States Market During W11 (Mar 15)
In W11, the price of Roma tomatoes increased by 80% WoW in the United States, from USD 8.39/25lbs box on W10 to USD 14.95/25lbs box, due to a decreased availability. Production volumes decreased because growers from the Pacific region were harvesting their crops, dropping the export volumes.
Stable Pricing and Demand for Mexican Roma Tomatoes in the United States Market During W11 (Mar 19)
During W11, the volume of Roma tomatoes arriving from Sinaloa to the United States market is meeting all the harvest schedules without any delays showing a stable offer in the market. The demand for FOB Nogales showed a stable behavior making prices lower than expected without volatility. Pricing at USD 10-11.95/25lbs for Jumbo and Xlarge sizes.
Turkey
With the Turkish Tomato Prices Are Going Downhill (Mar 14)
The Vittoria market is experiencing a decline in prices for vegetables, especially tomatoes due to high supply and demand is reflexive, and foreign products are arriving from Morocco, Holland, and Turkey.
Lack of Dutch Supply of Tomatoes Increases Demand for Turkey (Mar 16)
Supermarket chains are the main buyers of tomatoes grown in Turkish greenhouses, with the vast majority of the crop destined for export. The total Turkish tomato production was 13M tons in 2022, with 4M tons of this crop being tomato paste and 530 KT of the 9M tons exported. Sinerji is taking initiatives to improve its infrastructure for cultivation and logistics, such as BRC-certified greenhouses and GlobalGAP-certified cultivation.
Greece
Stagnant Greek Tomato Market Since W9 Due to Low Demand (Mar 14)
While the rest of Europe sees a thriving tomato demand and restricted production availability, the Greek market for the last 2 weeks have continued to be stagnantly low, and many quantities remained unsold during W9 and W10, even at prices of USD 0.55-0.60/kg EXW. Mainly due to low demand caused by a combination of warm weather that led to a high fruit supply and market fatigue after the carnival festivities. Exports could have been better if more producers strategically targeted markets outside Greece and the Balkans with long-life tomato varieties, but it has not been achievable at the producers or cooperatives level.
Italy
Organic Processing Tomato Figures in Italy (Mar 17)
The webinar "Results of the factual survey on organic tomatoes for processing in 2022 in Italy" was an opportunity to review the market segment and present figures, trends, and projects related to "Made in Italy" organic processing tomatoes. Carmine Alfano, Vice-president of the organic products department of the Anicav, summarized organic tomato figures for the 2022 harvest season, showing that out of a total of 2,591,608MT of tomatoes harvested last summer, 191,938Mt were grown organically. In the south-central basin, organic tomato crops accounted for 7.41% of the total, up 1.18% from 2021. In the northern production basin, organic crops accounted for 9.22% of the total in 2022. In terms of marketing, the share of organic in the total tomato products sector accounted for 4.6% in value and 3.2% in volume in 2022, but this is a decrease in sales of 2% in terms of turnover and 6% in quantity compared to 2021.
The high temperatures in November and December 2022 caused the tomato harvest to peak sharply and the market to become unbalanced. Plum tomatoes were the first to be affected, leading to low prices and unsold products in the early winter. Morocco's ban on tomato exports was temporarily suspended, allowing growers to send more Sicilian tomatoes to Poland and other Eastern European countries.
Morocco
Tomato Prices Drop as Ramadan Approaches in Morocco (Mar 13)
Government measures to lower food prices have resulted in a drop in tomato prices, with kilos now sold between 4 and 5 dirhams. It is excellent news for Moroccan consumers who feared high prices as the month of Ramadan approaches, and who are facing galloping food price inflation. The government has taken measures to regulate the market and guarantee a normal supply of tomatoes.
Export Quota for Moroccan Tomatoes (Mar 14)
Morocco has imposed quotas on tomato exports to reduce prices ahead of Ramadan due to rising raw material prices, pests, and droughts. It caused problems in the world's fourth-largest tomato-producing country.
Moroccan Tomato Volumes Expected to Return to Normal by Mid-April 2023 (Mar 14)
Morocco experienced an acute decline in tomato production due to a cold snap, leading to a more than 80% drop in daily volumes. Morocco's production of tomatoes expects to return to normal levels by mid-April 2023, leaving exporters with 2-3 months of full capacity. Domestic demand for tomatoes remains high, and exports will gradually decrease until restrictions are lifted by April 2023.
Poland
Tomato Prices Break Records at USD 6.90/kg in Poland (Mar13)
Tomatoes are expensive in Poland due to high energy prices, limited production, and growing in greenhouses. Marta Pilczuk, president of Kraft Heinz, believes vegetable prices will fall, but only in 2024.
Spain
Spain’s Tomato Export Volume Has Decreased by 38.71% In 10 Years (Mar 13)
In 2022, Spain exported 629.27M kilos of tomatoes at an average price of USD 1.88/kg (EUR 1.75/kg), the highest price in the last ten years. However, between 2013 and 2022, Spain's tomato export volume fell by 38.71%. Germany was the leading buyer, followed by France, Netherlands, UK, Grenada, and Almeria. Almeria experienced a 31.55% drop in volumes marketed, while Murcia was the second-biggest tomato-exporting province.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan Exports Considerably More Tomatoes (Mar 14)
Turkmenistan exported 104KT of tomatoes to Russia and other countries in 2022, significantly more than in 2021, when it entered the top 4 largest suppliers of greenhouse tomatoes in the RF and became the primary supplier of such products to Tajikistan.
Uzbekistan
The South American tomato moth is a quarantine object, but thanks to the vigilance of Rosselkhoznadzor employees, an attempt to import infected tomatoes from Uzbekistan to Russia was suppressed. The presence of a quarantine object was confirmed by a laboratory examination, and the import of products was prohibited. The guilty person was brought to administrative responsibility by Article 10.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Prices for Greenhouse Tomatoes in Uzbekistan Are Record High (Mar 14)
Prices for greenhouse tomatoes in Uzbekistan have increased by an average of one and a half times since the beginning of 2023, due to crop losses during the January abnormal cold.
