The European Union (EU) represented 83% of the total fruit and vegetables exported by Spain in 2023, with 9.4 million tons, a situation that the sector seeks to reverse and also bet on other foreign markets, such as China or Saudi Arabia, to diversify.
In recent years, Spanish fruit and vegetable crops have experienced affected by factors such as lack of water resourcesbad weather, with hail or repeated heat waves, and an increase in production costs.
All this has affected the robustness of a sector that has also suffered from the increase in the entry of products from third countries; In total, Spanish imports increased by 7% in volume and 19% in value in 2023, with 4.1 million tonnes and 4,473 million eurosaccording to official data.
EU countries also see an increase in the presence of products from third countriesFor example, tomato imports from non-EU countries increased by 13.4% this season, compared to the average of the last five, while imports from EU countries fell by 9.6% over the same period.
These figures mean that the distribution of imports according to the place of origin changes towards an increase in the presence of products from outside the Union.
A better perspective
Similarly, the outlook for the sector at the national level they are goodbecause during the first half of the year, the performance of Spanish exports improved: sales to other countries reached 6,652,549 tonnes and a value of 10,069 million euros.
In this context, the sector seeks to bet on different extra-community markets, in which factors such as its geography – with counter-seasonal productions – and its population growth They make them attractive in order to increase exports.
This week, exporters, companies and various institutions presented the challenges and perspectives of the sector with these markets. During the meeting, it was highlighted that the current situation in many of these markets is a decline in trade relations due to the covid-19 pandemic, which has caused a drop in imports and an increase in customs tariffs.
This is the case of Saudi Arabia, where imports have fallen by up to 72% since 2019 in volume due to the increase in tariffs by the country of Middle East and China, which applies an average tariff of 12.9% for fruits and vegetables and where the Spanish market has failed to reposition itself after the pandemic.
Another of the markets with projection is Brazilstill awaiting the European Union’s association agreement with Mercosur. Despite tariffs and logistical obstacles, the fruit and vegetable sector welcomes the increase in trade with these two countries and China, three giants with growing population and, consequently, with an increased domestic demand for fruits and vegetables.
In general, the formula for breaking into these countries and gaining market share is through presence at various trade fairssuch as the Asia Fruit Logistica event held in September and attended by 14 national companies in the sector.
In Spain, Fruit attraction It is positioned as the main stage for the national product to exhibit its qualities in front of more than 100,000 visitors expected from 56 countries from October 8 to 10.
