The harvest is now underway in most of the tomato processing areas, with the exception of Canada and the US Midwest states. No major issues have been reported and the total forecast remains unchanged at 38.1 million tonnes.
AMITOM countries
EU countries:
France
To date, only two factories in the south-east are open and less than 10,000 tonnes have been processed. The heat is there in both regions. Up to now, quality and yields are there, but in the south-west some fields have been affected by early blight following small rainfalls over the last two weeks. Factories in the south-west will open from next week until 15 August.
Greece
The weather remains unstable with a succession of rains and heat. All factories in the south started in mid-July and now five of the 12 factories in the country have started. Only about 40,000 tonnes (about 10% of the forecast) has been processed to date. Quality is good but brix a bit lower than normal.
Italy
In the south, all factories have now started, which is earlier than usual. Full capacity should be reached at the end of the week or early next week. Quality is good, with good colour and acidity although brix is slightly lower than usual. The yield for the early varieties is as expected, not bad. There is some worry for the quality over the next two weeks following the extreme heat (close to 40°C) last week.
In the north, this week all companies have started the production even if not yet a full capacity that will probably be attained at the end of this week. Last week, we had two important rain storms (on 24 and 29 July) with hail in some areas of Piacenza and Alessandria. The estimation of the damages is not yet available and the POs says that damages are for some hundred hectares. The quality delivered to the factory is good, brix is normal for the start and the size of the fruit is smaller than usual. We will expect more information about the yields per hectare on the early crop in the next week. The sentiment is that the yield will be lower than last crop. This week we are receiving very high temperature that could negatively affect the late crop blossom.
Portugal
All the factories opened between 17 and 24 July and are now running. Quality is pretty good. The forecast remains unchanged.
Spain
All factories are now at full capacity in Andalucía and in Extremadura, and the harvest is running smoothly. It is estimated that 600,000 tonnes had been processed as of 31 July (19% of the forecast). Some factories in the Vegas Alta in Extremadura have reported some losses in the early tomatoes due to the heatwaves in June although it is too early to estimate total losses, no significant reduction is expected. In general quality is good, with good colour and acidity but brix is lower than last year.
In the Ebro valley, some factories are opening this week and most next week and the full capacity should be reached rapidly.
The total forecast remains 3.2 million tonnes.
Outside the EU:
Iran
The main harvest will start from the beginning of the September and we will report the situation on that time, but up to now the production for this part of the crop is 20% less than our initial forecast.
Tunisia
It is estimated that 85% of the crop has been harvested to date with 502,000 tonnes processed as of 31July. Only 16 of the 26 factories are now operating as 10 have already achieved their program. The harvest is now over in the Kairouan and Nabeul regions but it continues at a lower speed in the other regions with about 8,000 tonnes delivered daily to the factories. The total forecast remains 570,000 tonnes.
Turkey
In Turkey the Southern part of the Country is well under way and up North the harvest is picking up slowly. There are still a few Northern factories who are yet to open and are expected to start processing this week. The quality of the raw material is normal and the solids are slightly lower than expected for the Southern crop. The weather has been stable since the beginning of the crop and we haven't yet seen the high temperature experienced by some of the other countries. At the moment, we stick with the previous crop forecast.
Other WPTC countries
Brazil
Brazilian tomato season start well with some rains until May that increase bacterial problems. Some processors reduce area to adjust tomato paste inventory in other hand some increase factory capacity that we have almost the same tomato volume from last year (something around 1.45 million tonnes).
California
The estimate is to process 1,003,460 short tons (c. 909,000 metric tonnes) for this week. At the end of this week (5 August) the industry will have processed approximately 2,878,131 short tons (2.61 million metric tonnes). This would will be about 1,200,000 short tons (1.09 million metric tonnes) less than last year at this time. Not much change in harvest conditions from last report. Tonnage is currently picking close to contract on average and quality has been good.
Canada
Bacterial spot and late blight have been identified in a number of fields, however, all indications are that this is being controlled with proper spray applications. The hail storm 3 weeks ago destroyed approximately 250 acres and severely damaged another 50 acres. Many growing areas are quite dry and could use rain, but all reports are for a good crop. Processors’ expectations are to achieve contracted tonnage. Some processors will be starting harvest on 15 August while others are planning to begin on 21 August.
China
Some factories in South Xinjiang started processing around 28 July and others will open this weekend, while the new processing season will start around 5 August in North Xinjiang and 4 August in Mongolia. Current price of raw material in Xinjiang is 450 RMB/t.
South Africa
The yield and quality is currently good. We keep the estimate at 160,000 tonnes.
Non WPTC members
Other US States
The Midwest is expected to begin harvest on 15 August, about a week later than normal. The weather patterns have turned more neutral and normal temps and rainfall are expected for the upcoming harvest.
