European market, September 2008 : Indicators, banana, avocado, orange, grapefruit, mango, pineapple, sea freight

Mango: September was a month of shrinking supply, with a decrease in shipments from Israel and Senegal. Brazil gradually moved into first position along mango supplier countries although its shipments were still moderate. The limiting of arrivals was a positive feature on the European market insofar as demand was sluggish throughout the month. This balance between supply and demand favoured continued fairly high prices with a few occasional variations related to fruit quality. Pineapple: The increase in supplies of 'Sweet' in September was not as large as forecast by operators. However, this did not prevent prices from sliding downwards throughout the month. The situation on the air pineapple market was fairly good overall, although fruits moved slower from mid-month onwards. However, fruit quality remained a little uneven and sales were more or less easy depending on the batches released on the market. No real change was observed on the 'Victoria' pineapple market. Supplies were fairly'limited overall, with demand taking time to recover. Sea freight: Despite the 30-odd ships that have been demolished since the start of the year there was no demand dividend for charter rates in September. A high exit price in Ecuador coupled with uncertain markets in the Med restricted banana chartering. Heavy and persistent rain in South Africa hindered the citrus harvest in the Western Cape. When enough fruit did become available demand and pricing in EU markets had dipped to the point that the annual race to meet the mid October duty deadline didn't get out of the starter's blocks. (Résumé d'auteur