The lower supply of fruit and vegetables in the main wholesale markets in the country influenced the rise in prices of important products in September. Among the vegetables, the highlight is the potato, which had an increase of 18.49% in September, compared to August. In the case of fruit, bananas rose 15.08% between August and September this year.
Other increases were observed in carrots, onions, oranges, apples and papayas, sold in 13 supply centers (Ceasas) in the country. The information is from the 10th Bulletin of the Brazilian Horticultural Market Modernization Program (Prohort)disclosed today (18), in Brasília, by the National Supply Company (Conab).
According to the organ, potato prices had been falling since May this year, as markets were supplied with the winter crop. The new high is attributed to a lower supply in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. “Shipping from São Paulo decreased by 8% and from Minas by almost 30%. In national terms, the movement in Ceasas, in September, fell by almost 10%, with the deceleration of the winter harvest”, explained the bulletin.
Another factor for the lower supply of potatoes, felt more significantly in the half of September, it was the bad weather (more intense rains) in the producing states, which hindered the harvest. The biggest price increase was registered at Ceasa in Brasília (71.54%). There were also increases in Ceasas that supply Vitória (ES) (32.96%) and Rio of January (31.98%).
The increase in banana prices (mainly nanica) came along with the decrease in production in several microregions such as nanica and silver in Registro (SP), silver in northern Minas Gerais, and nanica in northern Santa Catarina. In terms of prices, the highlight was the rises in Ceasa, from Goiás (23.84%), Ceasa, from Pará, (29.77%) and Ceasa, from Espírito Santo (24.5%).
Banana
Point outside the curve was the silver banana from the Petrolina/Juazeiro hub [Vale do São Francisco]with good production, good quality for not to have suffered from the cold and with good demand from Ceasas in the Northeast.
Banana exports declined and were mostly directed to Mercosur, with more than 86% of production to Argentina and Uruguay and a small amount sent to the United Kingdom and Germany. According to Conab, foreign sales, until September 2022, had a volume of 69.95 thousand tons, 13.4% lower than the same period of the previous year.
Total sales, in quantity, considering all the products that make up the vegetables group in the analyzed Ceasas, fell by 7.8% in September, compared to August, and increased by 3.1% compared to September 2021. Between last month, there was a drop of 4.3% in sales compared to August and a reduction of 6.1% compared to September last year.
Vegetables
Five vegetables were analyzed in the Conab bulletin: lettuce, potato, onion, carrot and tomato.
As with potatoes, the weather also had an impact on the supply of carrots at wholesale. “Frequent rains make harvesting difficult, in addition to often compromising the quality of the root”, informed Conab. Minas Gerais stands out, more precisely in the municipality of São Gotardo, a region that supplies several states in the country.
Despite the rise in most markets, carrot prices remain at low levels. After peaking in March, prices fell to their lowest level for the year in August. The average price in September increased by 5.28%, caused by the drop in supply: -11%, -3% and -25%, from Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Goiás, respectively.
For onions, prices rose even with the dispersion of the product’s supply by the states. This scenario is explained by the lower production registered in the Northeast, more notably in Bahia and Pernambuco. In the accumulated result for the year, the percentage of drop in the Northeastern supply, in relation to 2021, is close to 40%. For Conab, the increase in costs, both in production and transport, and the unattractive prices last year reflected in a reduction in area. The average price of onions increased by 7.77% last month.
Among vegetables, there was a drop only in lettuce prices, of 11.26%, since tomato did not present a uniform trend in the analyzed Ceasas, and prices had a negative variation of 0.51%, on average. The highest increases in tomato were observed in the Ceasas of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. of Januarywhile the lows in Pernambuco, Ceará and Acre.
fruits
The fruits examined by Conab were bananas, oranges, apples, papayas and watermelon. Only the watermelon had a downward trend in prices, even with the greater commercialization of the fruit in the last month. The drop was 19.47%.
“The municipality of Uruana, in Goiás, continues to be the main supplier region, with emphasis also on the completion of the Tocantins harvest. In this scenario, the profitability of producers was greatly pressured, including with several of them selling products below cost price”, said the bulletin.
“The increase in oranges is influenced by the absorption of the fruit by the juice-producing industries, a fundamental movement for the supply to remain controlled, since the demand shows a slower pace”, assured Conab. Last month, the average price of the fruit rose 2.7%. According to the agency, the lowest temperature in the first to haveLast month’s sale is among the reasons that explain the lower demand for the fruit.
In the case of apples, September was marked both by the rise in prices (5.37%) and by the fall in sales at Ceasas, due to the decrease in stocks in the cold rooms of the classification companies, due to the crop failure in the current season. “However, the outlook does not indicate room for new increases, among other factors due to the entry into the market of competing fruits such as plums and peaches”, the bulletin pointed out.
Papaya
For papaya, prices rose mainly due to the restriction in the supply of the formosa variety, since the production of papaya recorded an increase. “This combination provided better control over sales and allowed producers of this type of papaya to have the margin to even maintain the price without losing profitability”, announced Conab. The average price of papaya rose 2.37%.
The data collection of September was carried out in thirteen supply centers: São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio of JanuaryVitória (ES), Campinas (SP), Curitiba, Porto Alegre, São José (SC), Goiânia, Brasília, Recife, Fortaleza and Rio Branco (AC).
In addition to the monthly bulletin, Conab makes it possible, on the Prohort, price monitoring, market analysis, consultation of historical series and identification of producing regions, among other technical studies. The database includes information on 117 fruits and 123 vegetables, totaling more than a thousand products, when their varieties are considered.
