In the 2014/2015 marketing year, Spain has achieved the highest turnover in history from the export of courgettes, according to data supplied by the statistical service Estacom (Icex-Tax Agency), with Tariff Integrated codes of the European Communities - TARIC.
The record has been registered in the campaign lasting from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015, despite the drop in the total number of kilos exported, mostly because of the price paid, amounting to 1.03 Euro per kilo; the best of the last decade.
The revenue generated by Spain from the export of courgettes has amounted to 277.66 million Euro, of which 213.9 corresponded to Almeria. The total volume of domestic exports stood at 269.33 million kilos, with Almeria accounting for 217.53 million kilos.
Provinces
The province of Almeria has been responsible for 80.77 percent of Spain's total courgette exports. The average price of the courgettes shipped by Almeria this campaign stood at 0.98 Euro per kilo, while that reached in the previous year was of 0.77 €/kg.
The second most important province was Valencia, which exported 11.59 million kilos of courgettes, 4.30 percent of the domestic total. The value of Valencia's exports reached 16.3 million Euro and the average price was of 1.41 Euro per kilo.
Murcia ranks third with 9.44 million kilos, 10.04 million Euro and an average price of 1.06 Euro per kilo. Murcia's exports represented 3.51 percent of Spain's total.
Countries
France was the main customer of Spanish courgettes, with 95.45 million kilos imported. The second place was for Germany, with a total of 60.64 million kilos, followed by the Netherlands, with 32.34, the UK, with 28.87, and Portugal, with 9.08 million kilos.
Almeria's production
The acreage devoted by Almeria to the production of courgettes has increased slightly compared to the previous year, reaching 7,369 hectares.
The volume produced by Almeria, according to data obtained through the Prices and Markets Observatory of Andalusia, reached 412.52 million kilos, of which the province exported 52.73 percent, selling 195 million kilos, 47.27 percent, in the domestic market.
As pointed out by the Andalusian Observatory, the average price obtained by Almeria's growers was of 0.83 Euro per kilo, which means that they achieved a gross profit of 342.39 million Euro.
