January was marked by numerous shipping delays due to storms, creating occasional shortages. In the first half-month, they above all helped ease the pressure on the market, while demand remained fairly sluggish. These delays continued in the second half-month, again because of bad weather. On top of that were the fairly low temperatures in Costa Rica, which contributed to reducing the supply. The market was livelier due to this highly disrupted supply. Demand, slightly in excess of supply, was higher, especially from the supermarket sector. Sales on the wholesale markets remained fairly quiet. The market saw a better trend at the end of the month, with rates strengthening.
The situation on the air-freight market was fairly complicated. At the beginning of the month, some promotions eased the pressure on a market which was fairly quiet, not to say lethargic, following on from the festive period. With demand remaining rather low, operators heavily scaled back their imports, though this did nothing to improve market conditions. Nonetheless, a drop in rates was prevented. Several operators lamented lack of purchaser interest in Cayenne, with greater interest in coloured and green Sugarloaf. The air-freight supply was topped up by very limited batches of Sweet from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, which sold at between 2.30 and 2.50 euros/kg.
The Victoria market had a fairly difficult time after the end-of-year festivities. During the first half-month, the supply from Reunion, which was predominant, weighed down on the market. Operators had to lower their prices to prevent storage. Following the cyclones, Reunion provided a smaller supply, helping rates to strengthen at the end of the month.
In February, the supply was marked by numerous shipping delays and the cold spell which affected all the European markets. At the beginning of the first half-month, the Sweet supply was slightly less than demand, which meant that those batches that were available earned good value. Thereafter, the cold spell greatly disrupted sales, especially on the wholesale markets. Demand in the supermarkets did not seem to suffer excessively. In the second half-month demand was at a standstill, affected by the school holidays, and rates were less high. Only the most coloured fruits, available in small volumes, continued to sell well. At the end of the month, the overall supply was slightly unbalanced, with the most sought-after sizes 7 and 8 scarce, and therefore better valued.
In February, the air-freight market was marked by the school holidays. In anticipation of this fall in demand, several operators opted to greatly scale back their imports. Despite this, sales were slow and difficult during the first half-month, with several batches selling on commission. In the second half-month the supply, now even smaller, had less of a struggle to sell, although in the opinion of most operators, demand for Cayenne was constantly shrinking in favour of coloured or green Sugarloaf. Some air-freight Sweet batches from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica were available at between 2.20 and 2.40 euros/kg.
Throughout the month, the Victoria market maintained a rather positive trend thanks to a supply shortfall, especially from Reunion. Those batches that were available sold quickly and well. Given the paucity of the Reunion supply, several operators switched to Mauritian fruits, which in this way earned better value.
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