European market, May 2008: Indicators. Banana, avocado, orange, grapefruit, litchi, mango, pineapple, sea freight

Litchi: Sales of Indian Ocean litchis came to an end in March with the last South African fruits. Although a few batches from Madagascar still remained here and there, they were no longer the most representative on the market. March, like October, featured practically nonexistent litchi supply, especially as there were no fruits from Australia this year. Supply of the European market resumed in April and May with the arrival of fruits from Thailand. Mango: In May, the market gradually regained balance between supply and demand. The string of public holidays in the first part of the month also disturbed sales while supplies from West Africa increased, being added to the substantial shipments from Brazil. The concentration of supply in a very short period resulted in worsening prices during the second half of the month. Pineapple: As supply had been increasing and demand falling at the end of April, operators expected difficulties on the pineapple market at the beginning of May. However, problems of logistics (ships Iate) resulted in an unintentional postponing of market degradation until the end of the month. The supply of air pineapple was fairly small overall and, together with good fruit quality, this kept prices at a good level. In contrast, the 'Victoria' market was much more tense, mainly as a result of the arrival of the season's fruits-this always hits sales of small exotics. Sea freight: The TCE average figure of 101c/cbft for the month of May means that year-to-date average remains over 100c/cbft - with June continuing where May finished the likelihood is that the figure for the first six months will also top three figures, the first time this has ever happened. Much will depend on the cost of bunkers - if the price of oil continues its upward march then TCE yields will inevitably fall. (Résumé d'auteur