At least 219 folks have died within the devastating storm within the east and south of Spain. After the floods, chaos nonetheless reigns in lots of locations within the affected areas. Places are lined in mud, roads are blocked by automobiles and family items. Dozens of persons are nonetheless lacking.
But it’s not simply the injury to the infrastructure that’s immense, but additionally the financial impression. This may even have penalties for Germany – particularly with regard to agriculture.
A number of fruit and greens are grown in Spain, together with within the areas affected by the storm. For instance, the regional authorities of Andalusia introduced that round 4,200 of the 22,000 hectares of greenhouses within the Campo de Dalias vegetable and fruit rising middle close to Almería had been broken. Citrus and olive plantations had additionally suffered injury.
Valencia orange area badly affected
The badly affected Valencia area is especially well-known for its oranges. According to the farmers’ affiliation Asaja, hundreds of hectares of this yr’s fruit and vegetable harvest, together with citrus fruits, may have been destroyed there. Other plantation timber may die because of the moist climate. In 2023, Germany imported 196,680 tons of oranges from Spain.
Miguel Angel Serrano, technical secretary of the farmers’ affiliation, defined that a variety of vegetation had been destroyed within the affected area as a result of big hailstones and the storm had destroyed the plastic tarpaulins of the greenhouses. According to Serrano, this injury alone quantities to “several million euros”. A video reveals the destruction:
As the trade newspaper “Lebensmittel Zeitung” (LZ) writes, the Edeka procurement subsidiary Fruchtkontor, which relies in Valencia, is now warning retailers of “reduced availability”. It shouldn’t be but attainable to estimate how nice the restrictions brought on by the pure catastrophe will probably be.
Replacements from different areas is probably not sufficient
The “LZ” quotes an Edeka retailer who explains that there are at present no gaps within the gross sales areas, however that they are going to come. Some Edeka areas are apparently already planning to cancel the promotional business with persimmon and citrus fruits. According to estimates, greater than 70 % of the persimmon harvest within the necessary Valencia area has been destroyed.
Lidl is at present unable to offer “any information on the impact on the supply chain”, and when requested by the commerce journal, Kaufland referred to options in its vary. According to “LZ” data, many retailers are at present looking for replacements from different areas and international locations. However, specialists concern that this won’t be sufficient for clementines.
A wholesaler from whom German buying and selling corporations and Edeka areas buy fruit and greens explains that “currently only around a quarter of the goods from Valencia arrive at him”.
However, the complete extent of the injury can’t but be estimated. This yr, there was already a scarcity of oranges on account of drought, which, amongst different issues, led to a rise within the worth of orange juice.
Source: www.nationalturk.com