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Comment: As expected, demand was strong over the Christmas period, with many reports of an increase in sales on last year. The beginning of January often sees a lull in sales as a result of the Christmas demand. However, orders continue to remain reasonable this week.
Yield dig figures show an increase on last year but they are less than 2017 levels. 2019 harvest season will be recorded as reasonably yielding, relatively high over the eight-year trend.
These figures do not show that we had the second-lowest planting year ever (by area) and the immense difficulty in harvesting this season. It is likely that overall production figures will not be dissimilar to last year.
In the UK in the runup to Christmas, many processors and pack houses were working off contracted material, limiting any uplift of free-buy material trade. Movement to the Canaries continued over the Christmas period and prices remain firm, with sellers trying to push values higher at any opportunity.
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