Pineapple monthly review: January 2022

Although demand as usual fell after the end-of-year festivities, the pineapple market maintained a positive trend throughout January. The combination of several factors contributed to greatly reducing the Sweet supply to the European market. The supply was first disrupted by rains and cold temperatures in Costa Rica, reducing fruit availability, while demand on the North American market was livelier than predicted. In addition, shipping delays continued throughout the month. Under these circumstances, the good demand from the supermarket sector heavily limited fruit transfer to the spot market. We should also recall that the African supply (Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana) was particularly small, with practically no fruit in the first half-month. So the spot market maintained a fairly positive trend throughout the month, enabling the rates to see a fairly steady rise.

The air-freight pineapple market had a rather quiet start to the year. Demand was at a standstill after the end-of-year festivities, and operators took advantage of this time to clear their stocks. So sales were rather quiet during the first half-month. Several operators also heavily scaled back their imports, enabling the market to regain some fluidity. Demand for coloured Sugarloaf, distinctly scarcer at the beginning of the year, seemed to pick up faster than for the other varieties. Latin American Sweet batches sold better than their Ghanaian counterparts, while Cayenne sales remained marginal.

The Victoria market had a mixed trajectory. Demand underwent a distinct fall in the first half-month, while the Reunion supply remained heavily imbalanced. The reduction in the overall supply in the second half, because of cyclone alerts, contributed to strengthening the prices of those batches available. 

pineapple - france - import prices January 2022