While Moroccan tomato exports to the EU have fallen from 365,695 tonnes in 2013 to 557,225 tonnes in 2022 (701,541 tonnes including the UK), those of Spain have been steadily declining for five years. A situation announced by Spanish producers.
Spanish tomato exports to the EU have continued to decline, despite the increase, for the second consecutive season, in the area sown in winter. The director of the fruit and vegetable federation (Fepex), José María Pozancos, evokes a “gradual loss of market share” by Spain, denouncing fierce competition from Morocco in the market of Western Europe and Turkey. in the Eastern European market.
The Moroccan tomato is available on the European market throughout the year due to these “uncontrolled” exports of the product from the kingdom which enjoys advantages under its agreements with the EU. The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union has also affected Canarian producers and benefited Morocco, which has strengthened its commercial cooperation with this country after Brexit.
According to data from the United Nations Statistics Division, Spanish tomato exports to the UK fell from 143,182 tonnes to 70,780 tonnes last February. Due to very unfavorable weather conditions, the Canary Islands have reduced their tomato exports to the UK by 30-40%.
Overwhelmed by Moroccan competition, Spanish tomato exporters are asking the European Commission for “extraordinary aid of 10% of the value of tomato production”. In the Canary Islands, the situation is more critical. “Of the 1,086 companies that exported tomatoes in the early 2000s, there are still six,” laments the spokesman for Canarian exporters.
