Mandarins

The volume of fresh produce exported by Greece during the past couple of months was lower than in the same period of last year, according to new data published by German analyst ZMP.

The company revealed that Greek citrus exports had fallen sharply during the first two months of 2009, with orange volumes up to the end of week eight down 10.6 per cent year-on-year to 120,110 tonnes.

Mandarin export volumes, fell from 23,360 tonnes to 17,340 tonnes during the eight-week period, while lemon shipments totalled 93 tonnes, considerably less than the 385 tonnes exported in 2007/08.

Table grape exports have also fallen, according to ZMP, with volumes down 59 per cent to 3,715 tonnes during 2008/09 compared with the year-earlier period.

However, kiwifruit export volumes for the current season showed an annual increase of 16 per cent to 26,075 tonnes.