Peruvian avocado volumes to drop 15% this year

At the beginning of June, the drop in volumes of Peruvian avocados that was projected was confirmed.

“It is the fifth week of drop in volumes in Peru compared to last year. Since the beginning of the year, we have had a loss campaign, with volumes that have reduced by around 15 percent for this origin,” François Bellivier, development manager at Capexo, told Agraria.

This situation contrasts with the beginning of the Peruvian campaign, in which the supply from the mountainous area was higher than last year.

“The mountainous (Sierra) season benefited from good rainfall compared to last year, but when we moved to coastal production, volumes were much lower,” Bellivier said.

This is directly related to the El Niño phenomenon.

This reduction in supply naturally translates into an increase in prices.

“For several weeks now, we have been seeing much lower volumes than last year, especially in the smaller calibers,” he said. “Therefore, prices are much higher than in the same period last year, and relatively good for the season.”

Another factor that could raise avocado in July/August/September is the uncertainty of supplies from Kenya to Europe.

However, despite this general drop in supply, the European market remains well supplied.

“Even if Peru is negative overall compared to 2023, the volume exported to Europe is still correct, because the market is still better than that of the U.S., where prices are less attractive for Peruvian exporters,” Bellivier said. “This favors us, since which means that in a situation where there is a shortage of supply, we can still have some volume.”

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