AMITOM countries
EU countries:
France
Planting should be finished by 10 June both in the south-east and the south-west. Overall, after a few difficult weeks due to unfavourable weather (wind, rain and cold), everything is now in order. The ten days’ delay during planting could be compensated by the hot weather experienced now. Some storms in the south-west are still disrupting planting but it should not have much influence. Final surfaces are not yet available but should be close to 2,500 hectares for a contracted volume of 190,000 tonnes.
Greece
The weather so far has been variable with a cold spring, then some rains and hailstorms. Transplanting is now finished. The forecast is reduced to 460,000 tonnes with a higher peak expected. The harvest could start early in the south, probably during the second week of July.
Italy
The forecast is confirmed at 5 million tonnes with 2.5 million tonnes in the south and 2.5 million tonnes in the north where the surfaces planted are slightly higher than initially expected but where average yields could be reduced due to some weather issues.
Portugal
The total planted surface has been reported at 19,200 ha (100 ha less than in 2016, official number to be available in July). A total of 1.7 million tonnes have been contracted, of which 65,000 tonnes with Spanish processors, so the total volume to be processed in Portugal should be c. 1.65 million tonnes. Conditions have generally been good so far, despite some rains, and the crop looks healthy and early meaning that the harvest could start during the third week of July.
Spain
In Extremadura, all plantings were on schedule as there was no interruption due to rain. The weather during all spring was pretty hot with some storms which destroyed 150 hectares, although there were no other big damages. In the last two weeks there were several days of very high temperatures at about 37-38ºC but as nights were cool, no damages to flowers have been reported. The harvest should start early, around 15-20 July.
In Andalusia, conditions have remained fine so far with no special issue to report. The harvest should start during the first week of July.
The total forecast is confirmed at 3.2 million tonnes.
Outside the EU:
Tunisia
Transplanting is now nearly finished in all regions with 13,400 hectares out of 13,500 planted as of 30 May (15,400 ha were planted in 2016). Until the end of May, weather conditions have remained favourable for plants and fruits development. The harvest should start during the first week of July 2017 in the Centre and Cap Bon regions, and in the second half of the month in the north-west.
Total production should be 900,000 tonnes of which 630,000 tonnes for paste and 20,000 tonnes for canned production, with a volume of c. 100,000 tonnes of tomato paste and 13,000 tonnes of canned tomatoes expected. Tomato price is 147 TND field gate (54.5 €/t).
Turkey
The planting in Turkey looks slightly higher than previously thought but this is with more tomatoes being planted outside of contracts. This implies the farmers feel they will get a good spot price for the raw material in season. However, the total surface area is still expected to be lower than last year. The development, however, is better than last year despite cool and wet weather. Right now, there is no change from the last forecast of 2 million tonnes.
Ukraine
The weather was good until early May, then became cold with some rain and hail, which fortunately did not cause any damages, and is now good and hot. Transplanting is finishing this week. The forecast is maintained at 650,000 tonnes.
Other WPTC countries
Argentina
The final production in Argentina was 488,000 tonnes with a record yield of 79 t/ha. The final number was the second historic harvest (2014 was 535,000 tonnes). The reason of this was the result of the impact of the transference of technology provided by the Tomato 2000 Association combined with good climatic conditions.
Australia
The final tonnes were 184,695 tonnes. The season came to an abrupt end on 17 May 2017 following rain events. Approximately 111 ha of crop remained unharvested at the end of the season due to the effect of the rain which fell in late April.
California
Planting is basically done at this time with just a few acres left. The southern growing area of the state looks good at this time. The northern part of the state did have some very wet/delayed planting conditions due to the constant rains from Feb-April. We will have to wait and see how this area develops leading up to harvest. NASS released its revised estimate to 11.8 million short tons (10.7 million metric tonnes). This is up 200,000 short tons from the January estimate on the same acreage. The 50.2 tons per acre (112.8 metric tonne per hectare) would be a record yield. Time will tell.
Canada
The crop estimate for 2017 is slightly down from 2016. OPVG has not received all processor’s contract tonnage to date, but estimate the total at approximately 490,000 short tons (445,000 metric tonnes). One processor’s tonnage is being significantly reduced while all the others individual tonnage is slightly up. There were some delays in planting due to excessive rainfall, but generally a positive outlook for the growing season.
Chile
The Chilean season this year was according our last estimation around 1.08 million tonnes. The factories worked until the end of April, with in general good weather conditions. There was only light rain during at the end of April without any damage in the tomato yields for the farmers. The average yield was around 93 t/ha. Rains started in mid-May, with cold temperatures which was very good for snow accumulations in the Andes (this is earlier than usual).
China
Updated information will be added by 6 June.
Japan
The forecast is 31,000 tonnes for a surface of approximately 450 hectares.
Peru
The harvest ended with a total crop of 110,000 tonnes.
South Africa
The harvesting season in the Western Cape is almost completed. The yields and quality was good. The harvesting in the North Province has just started. The projection for the current crop is about 150,000 tonnes.
Other countries
Other US States
Planting is behind schedule due to a very wet weather pattern in the Midwest and in Pennsylvania/New Jersey also. The forecast for this week is good so hopefully this can get caught up. The crop that is planted looks in good shape. The total acreage should remain as planned with the total volume forecast unchanged at 500,000 short tonnes (450,000 metric tonnes).
Poland
The spring was late, wet and cold with some night frosts which resulted in very limited transplanting until the 10
th of May. The weather now is optimal with about 30°C but with small rain every 3 days, so still some risk. The forecast remains 180,000 tonnes from 3,400 hectares.
