Spanish Tomato Exports Decline as Morocco Gains EU Market Share

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 "progressive loss of market share" by Spain, denouncing fierce competition from Morocco in the Western European market and from Turkey in the Eastern European market.

Moroccan tomatoes are available on the European market throughout the year due to these "uncontrolled" exports of the product from the kingdom, which benefits from the advantages under its agreements with the EU. The UK’s departure from the European Union has also affected Canary producers, and benefited Morocco, which has strengthened its trade cooperation with this country after Brexit.

According to data from the United Nations Statistics Division, Spanish tomato exports to the United Kingdom fell from 143,182 tons to 70,780 tons last February. Due to very unfavorable weather conditions, the Canary Islands have reduced their tomato exports to the United Kingdom by 30 to 40%.

Overtaken 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. "Out of the 1,086 companies that exported tomatoes at the beginning of the 2000s, there are six left," laments the spokesman for the Canary exporters.