European market, July/August 2006 : indicators. Banana, avocado, orange, grapefruit, litchi, mango, pineapple, sea freigh

Banana: The marked contrast in July and August temperatures gave the summer banana market a fairly unusual profile. The heat wave and what were probably slightly greater than average supplies ofdollar bananas first sent quay prices tumbling to a much lower level than usual. The strong decrease in arriving shipments and the much colder weather than usual allowed a distinct recovery in August. Avocado: The balance for the summer is fairly contrasted. The very good behaviour of the market in July-in spite of very large shipments of 'Hass'-should be mentioned. The efforts made in product promotion and the better distribution of shipments among the various markets gave good results. In contrast, the performance in August was distinctly worse. Large shipments from Peru (and to a lesser extent from South Africa), the early start to the Chilean season and the return to average of shipments of green varieties caused significant over-supply. Orange: The market remained under pressure from the markedly larger than average supplies from Spain. In this context, deliveries of 'Navel' and then 'Valencia' from the southern hemisphere were well below average in quantity, especially in July. The average monthly price was disappointing, especially in July, because of the very competitive prices asked by Spanish operators who wished to clear their stocks. Grapefruit: The major supply deficit continued in July and August. South African deliveries were 40% down in comparison with 2005 and those from Argentina were down by 30%. This situation, together with the demand level for the season sent prices up steadily, reaching the excellent 2003 level at the end of August. Litchi: Supplies of litchi were fairly regular but limited in July and August. The two most important origins succeeded each other without any difficult overlapping. Shipments from Thailand came to an end in the second half of July and were followed by the arrival of the first shipments from Israel. Prices remained fairly stable throughout the period. A few shipments from other origins completed supplies with more or less success. Consumption was not favoured by the combination of very contrasted weather this summer and holidays and sales were not very dynamic. Mango: The market was fairly fluid overall in July and August with some variations in the details of supply. July started with a period of shortage corresponding to the end of the Côte d'Ivoire export season and the beginning of shipments from Senegal. The latter gained momentum from the end of July until the end of August, making up for Israel's particularly marked deficit in mango shipped by sea. The Mexican season was modest and finished during the first fortnight of August. Pineapple: July and August are always fairly difficult months for operators in the pineapple sector as demand is small because of the attraction of the season's fruits and the absence of numerous operators, causing a slowing in business. The situation was different this year and pineapple sales displayed two distinct rates. However, there were no surprises in the air pineapple market. Business was slow even though good prices were obtained sometimes. It should be noted nevertheless that the 'Victoria' pineapple market was already a cause for concern before July and August and hardly made any progress as demand was exceedingly slow. Sea freight: Laying up 15-20 vessels in June and July paid dividends to reefer owners as vessel supply tightened throughout August and the reefer charter market reached a fluid equilibrium, and subsequently a solid base on which to build into the autumn for the all-important Period business. This was achieved despite a reduction in volumes of 'off-season' staple citrus volumes from Argentina and South Africa and heavily increased competition from the box lines at both sources. (Résumé d'auteur