The peach, nectarine, and flat peach harvest is underway in Extremadura with around a week’s delay compared to last year. Commercially speaking, the next two weeks will be crucial for these products, and the focus will be increasingly more on plums, the most representative product in this production area. This year’s plum supply is expected to be similar to last season’s, with occasional moments of scarcity and good prices from the start.

“Although we started harvesting two or three weeks ago, only now are we starting to have significant volumes of peaches, nectarines, and flat peaches. Most of our production is expected to be picked by June 15-20. The season for these products will thus be marked by how things go these days, as from then on, volumes will start to drop,” says José Aurelio García, Manager of the Explum cooperative, based in the municipality of Valdelacalzada, in the Spanish province of Badajoz.

With around a week’s delay, the first plums are also starting to be harvested at the moment; however, according to José Aurelio, volumes will remain insignificant until the harvest of quality leading varieties, such as the Black Splendor, gets underway.

“Given the abundant and constant rains in March, we thought that production would be more limited, but it seems that the harvest is going to be very similar to last year’s, which was not abundant, and moments of scarcity are also expected for some varieties,” says José Aurelio García.

“If the markets behave similarly to last season, we can expect a good commercial performance. At the moment, both in Europe and on the American continent, there are hardly any Chilean or South African plums left, so Spanish plums will arrive in an eager market with very acceptable prices. In any case, it remains to be seen how local harvests will fare in several of the European countries where we export, because while their productions are not that large, they do present competition for us, and this year there has been frost in several countries in Central and Eastern Europe,” says the Explum Manager.

“In the last five years, we’ve had more stable plum production and fewer production peaks because many plantations have been uprooted due to a lack of profitability. So, on paper, it seems that the demand for plums is going to be slightly greater than the supply,” says José Aurelio. “For overseas shipments, there is more uncertainty due to some changes in the routes of ships to certain destinations.”

“We are expecting a favorable start for Spanish plums, for which we foresee a high turnover in the warehouses and, therefore, good quality and fewer claims. Starting prices should be good and remain stable throughout the season,” says the cooperative’s manager.

For more information:
José Aurelio García
Explum SC
Tel.: +34 924446338
[email protected]
www.explumsc.com