Apricots, the only lucrative

In August, the apricot market in France - second main European producer after Italy - registered an improvement of production costs by 42% compared to the average of the last five years. The scarce supply and the large size and high quality of the French fruits also attracted requests from abroad.
The apricot was the only summer fruit not affected by the bad weather, which on the contrary damaged the peach and plum market.
Peaches had an unusual development due to an early and abundant crop but of small size. The offer initially exceeded the demand, than - thanks to the better weather and in-store promotional campaigns - in August the situation improved with a rise of the production price by 15% compared to the last five years’ average (however only +1% compared to 2006).
Plums were damaged by the bad weather. Despite a high and quality supply the demand was low both domestically and abroad. A slight improvement at end August has not allowed the production price to reach good levels, totalling a decrease by 8% compared to the last five years’ average.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that French Gala apples have much suffered Italian competition on Scandinavian markets.