The start of the year 2016 has seen the worst price at origin for tomatoes of the past decade, according to the data analysis carried out by the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Government of Andalusia.
In weeks 1 and 2 of January 2016, the average price at origin reached by all tomato varieties has been of 0.46 Euro per kilo, 22 cents below the average of the past decade, 20 cents lower than in the same period last year and 50 cents that registered in the first two weeks of 2007, the year in which tomatoes reached the best price at origin of the decade.
In 2007, the average price at origin in weeks 1 and 2 was of 0.96 Euro per kilo. A year later, in 2008, the average price for the first two weeks dropped to 0.60 Euro per kilo. That was the second worst tomato price for the first two weeks of each of the past ten years, but 0.14 Euro more than that obtained in the year 2016.
In weeks 1 and 2 of 2009, the average price at origin was of 0.62 Euro per kilo; it then increased to 0.68 in 2010, returned to 0.60 in 2011 and climbed back to 0.73 Euro per kilo in 2012. It then stood at 0.72 in 2013 and at 0.74 in 2014, falling again to 0.66 Euro per kilo in the first two weeks of 2015. With the 0.46 Euro per kilo registered in 2016, the price has hit rock bottom.
Request of measures
The increase in Moroccan tomato exports to the European Union (EU) has been blamed for the collapse in the markets, as denounced by the Spanish Federation of Producers and Exporters of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers and Live Plants (FEPEX).
Given this situation, FEPEX has asked the European Commission (EC), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA), for safeguard measures, provided for in Article 7 of Protocol I of the Partnership Agreement between the EU and Morocco, which states that if imports of products originating in Morocco cause serious disruptions or damage to the productive sector, the Commission may immediately take the necessary measures.
For its part, the Coordinator of Organizations of Growers and Ranchers (COAG) in Andalusia has requested the suspension of the agreement between the EU and Morocco, given the current market collapse caused by increased exports from Morocco; a suspension which was already ruled by the Superior Court of Justice of the European Union for other reasons.
