Estimates from the World Processing Tomato Council (WPTC) also show that for the EU alone, the decline is likely to be around 10.8%, to 9.97 million tons this year.
Production of tomatoes for processing in California is expected to fall 9% on last year to just under 11.8 million tons, also under California’s average for 2013-15 of 12.25 million tons.
China and Italy, also major producers, are in line for respective falls of 11% and 7% (to million tons), with each expected to produce 5 million tons this year, the latest WPTC forecasts show.
Spain is headed for a drop of 14% on last year but its expected production of 2.6 million tons is above its 2013-15 average of 2.46 million tons, and similarly, Turkey is poised as expected to register a 15% drop to 2.3 million tons, which is nevertheless above its 2013-15 average of 2.2 million tons.
