Fruit and vegetable harvest in the EU countries decreased compared to last year

After the 2018/2019 fruit harvest season of 47 million tons, EU production is expected to decline in the 2019/2020 season.

This is due to a decrease in the yield of kiwi and citrus fruits. In 2019, the apple harvest in Europe was one of the lowest in the last 20 years – 10.6 million tons. Fruit production was strongly affected by spring frosts in Eastern Europe, which also had a negative impact on other types of fruit. Kiwi production fell by 3% mainly due to a decline in the harvest in Italy-the leader in growing kiwis in the EU.

The citrus crop in the main producing countries-Spain and Greece - is also expected to decline after a high — yielding last year. Spain is the largest supplier of citrus fruits to Central and Northern Europe, accounting for more than 50% of imports to the countries of these regions. However, in September 2019, due to the Gota Fria weather phenomenon (the collision of cold air masses from the north with warm Mediterranean ones), floods and thunderstorms occurred in the south-east of the country. It is obvious that the forecasts of the Ministry of Agriculture for the citrus harvest of 6.27 million tons (down by 17% compared to the 2018/2019 season) will not come true. Forecasts for the production of table grapes in Italy and Spain were quite positive, but heavy precipitation made adjustments to the yield of these crops.

There is also some positive news. So, after falling in the previous 12 months, the crop of stone fruits in Southern Europe was plentiful last summer. Persimmon production also increased in the 2019/2020 season. Supplies of watermelons and melons were available in large quantities.

The summer heat, and in some regions of Central Europe the temperature in July exceeded 40C, had a negative effect on crops such as apples or onions.

The EU vegetable harvest increased in 2019 after a decline due to drought in the previous year, and reached the previous level of 60 million tons. Most of the vegetables are tomatoes for processing. The World Tomato Processing Council predicts crop growth of 3-5% in Southern Europe, as well as an increase in fresh tomato production in northwestern Europe. The vegetable harvest in Poland continues to decline, which began in 2018, and, according to experts, in 2019 decreased by 8%. A large proportion of vegetables will be processed.

Despite its strong production capacity, the EU also depends on imported fruit and vegetables and is a net importer in both categories. At the same time, the dependence of EU countries on fruit imports is more noticeable, since bananas and other tropical fruits are almost not produced in the EU.

43% of all fruit imports by EU countries are from non-EU countries. At the same time, bananas are the most imported type of fruit. 17% of the bananas imported by European countries are imported from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Supplies from these regions enjoy preferential trade access to the EU, but their share of imports is declining (21% in 2015, 17% in 2019). These countries include Ivory Coast, the Dominican Republic and Cameroon. Cameroon lost most of its share, while Ghanaian suppliers tried but failed to fill the gap.
Overall, after a decline in banana shipments in 2018, the market recovered in 2019. At the same time, prices remained above average against the background of a decrease in the level of imports. Even a short-term increase in import supplies at the end of last year did not lead to lower prices.

Imports of so-called "dollar bananas" increased by 800,000 tons, or almost 20%, between 2015 and 2018. The main shipments, more than 1 million tons from each country, come from Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. Banana trade within the EU is mainly re-export, but there is also production: about 600,000 tons are harvested in the Canary Islands and Martinique.

Citrus fruits are the second most imported fruit in the EU. Yet here, domestic trade between EU countries is more important than imports from third countries. Spain is the largest citrus exporter to the EU. South Africa, Egypt and Morocco are the leaders in deliveries from outside the European Union, as well as South America, which specializes in the supply of lemons.

For apples, internal trade between EU countries is also of key importance.. Shipments from the Southern Hemisphere have declined by almost 200,000 tons in recent decades, although they are still important. Imports from the Southern Hemisphere can still exceed 5 million tons only in seasons with very low local yields, such as 2017-2018.