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Prunes: France experiences another setback

May 18, 2022 at 12:12 PM , Der AUDITOR
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SANTIAGO/DUBAI. Experts expect a production increase of 5.8% for the 2022/2023 prune season. France's crop, however, is experiencing another setback. Meanwhile, offers on the European spot market are scarce.

2023 crops already taken into account

Last week, during the 39th World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress in Dubai, production estimates for global prune production were also discussed. According to the published data, production is forecast to increase by 5.8% to 175,000 mt in the 2022/2023 season, but the estimates for countries in the southern hemisphere refer to the harvests at the beginning of 2023. Everything is therefore still open here and the expectations for countries such as Chile and Argentina are significantly better.

In fact, only 57,510 mt of Chilean and 13,500 mt of Argentine prunes from the 2022 crop are still available. This means that the supply situation is likely to remain tight in the coming months. Other important producing countries such as France expect production to decline again this year to around 15,000 mt due to frost damage, while production in 2020 was still at 38,790 mt.

Prune production, in mt

Country

2021/22

2022/23

Diff.

USA

68,000

68,000

0.0%

Chile

57,510

65,000

13.0%

France

16,400

15,000

-8.5%

Argentina

13,500

18,000

33.3%

Serbia

6,000

5,000

-16.7%

Australia

2,300

2,000

-13.0%

Italy

964

1,200

24.5%

South Africa

800

800

0.0%

Total

165,474

175,000

5.8%

INC, May 2022

Supply is scarce

The supply of prunes on the European spot market is correspondingly limited. Available positions are scarce, which is why hardly any prices are being offered. In view of the reduced supply, and the rising prices for other fruits commonly used in dried fruit mixtures, such as apricots, there are also fewer and fewer possibilities for substitution. An easing of the situation is not expected for the time being.

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