The Netherlands and Spain are losing ground in the global trade of tomatoes, as their exports of this vegetable have fallen, unlike those of Mexico and Morocco, which have increased their share of the world tomato market, according to data processed by Hortoinfo supplied by the United Nations Statistical Division (UN).
According to UN data, a total of 7,448.42 million kilos of tomatoes were exported worldwide in 2016; 0.65 percent less than in the previous year.
The value of tomato exports worldwide in 2016 reached 7.441,12 million Euro; a figure almost identical to that obtained in 2015, when tomato exports generated 7.441,22 million Euro.
The average price for tomato sales in the world has been 0.999 Euro per kilo; the same average price as in 2015.
Countries
Mexico continues to lead the global export of tomatoes, with a record in 2016 of 1,748.86 million kilos; up 12 percent from the previous year. Mexican tomato exports account for 23.48 percent of the world's total.
The value of Mexican tomato exports was 1,907.28 million Euro, with an average price of 1.091 Euro per kilo.
The Netherlands maintains the second position in the world ranking of tomato exporters. The volume of tomatoes that the Netherlands exported in 2016 was 982.27 million kilos; -4.79% compared to the previous year. The tomatoes exported by the Netherlands account for 13.19 percent of the global trade. The Netherlands received a total of 1,445.16 million Euro for the sale of tomatoes overseas, with an average price of 1.471 Euro per kilo.
Spain, despite having also seen its exports fall, retains the third position in the world ranking. The Spanish export of tomatoes to the world in 2016 stood at 907.62 million kilos, or 12.19 percent of the world total; a figure that represents a decrease of -4.46 percent compared to the tomatoes exported by Spain in 2015. The value of Spanish tomato exports in 2016 was 959.79 million Euro, with an average price of 1.057 Euro per kilo.
Morocco pushes Turkey down and becomes the fourth largest tomato exporter. The volume of tomatoes exported by Morocco in 2016 was 524.91 million kilos, which is an increase of 25.78 percent compared to the total shipped in the previous year. Moroccan tomato exports account for 7.05% of the world total and generated 460.09 million Euro, with an average price of 0.877 Euro per kilo.
Turkey falls one spot and closes the "TOP-5" of global tomato exporters. The total amount of tomatoes exported by Turkey in 2016 was 486.03 million kilos, or 6.53 percent of the world total, with a drop of -10.22 percent compared to the volume of tomatoes exported in 2015. Turkey made 216.75 million Euro from its tomato exports, with an average price of 0.446 Euro per kilo.
Destinations
Looking at the main customers for each country, in 2016, Mexico shipped almost all of its fresh tomatoes to the United States, where it sold 1,743.89 million kilos.
The Netherlands sold 413.21 million kilos to Germany, 159.9 to the United Kingdom, 55.61 to Sweden, 54.89 to Italy and 37.62 million kilos to Poland. The Netherlands also sold Spain 27.82 million kilos of tomatoes.
As for the Spanish export of tomatoes, 239.18 million kilos were shipped to Germany, 138.37 went to the United Kingdom, 129.53 to France, 112.67 to the Netherlands and 62.67 to Poland.
The breakdown by countries of Morocco's 2016 tomato sales is as follows: the Alawite kingdom exported 338.51 million kilos of fresh tomatoes, with 110.2 million kilos going to Russia, 20.82 to the United Kingdom, 19.9 to Spain and lastly 8.99 million kilos were shipped to Mauritania. Of note is the 80 percent increase in Moroccan tomato exports to Russia, and a decrease of -61.24 percent in its exports to the Netherlands.
In 2015, the main customer for fresh Turkish tomatoes had been Russia, as it bought 337.42 million kilos from Turkey, or 62.28 percent of its total sales. The veto imposed by Russia on tomato imports from Turkey, with zero kilos sold in 2016, has meant that those exports have been diverted through other countries. The main customer for Turkish tomatoes in 2016 has been Iraq, with an increase of 166.8 percent and a volume of 89.62 million kilos. Belarus has increased its purchases of Turkish tomatoes by 628.86 percent, with a total of 86.88 million kilos. Saudi Arabia has bought 61 million kilos (+69.54%). Lastly, Georgia purchased 56.91 million kilos (244.49%) and Ukraine 33.49 million kilos; 185.75% more than when Russia bought directly from Turkey.
