The People's Republic of China is now among the ten largest suppliers of vegetables to the eurospean Union (EU).
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However, this is little more than an anecdote, because its volume of sales represents only 1.35 percent of the total, while vegetable sales made to the EU by the first three countries on the ranking, the Netherlands, Spain and France, account for 51.48 percent of the total.
In 2015, member states of the EU purchased a total of 25,855.11 million kilos of vegetables and 32,021.66 million kilos of fruit (including citrus), representing a total of 57,876.77 million kilos of fruit and vegetables, according to data from the statistical service eurosestacom (ICEX-Eurostat) with codes 07 (vegetables) and 08 (fruits) of the Tariff Integrated Tariff of the eurospean Communities (TARIC).
The total value of EU fruit and vegetable purchases was of 64,247.07 million euros, of which 22,672.57 million correspond to vegetables and 41,574.49 million to fruit.
The average price of all fruits and vegetables bought by the EU during the past year was of 1.327 euros per kilo; for vegetables, the average stood at 0.877 €/kg, while for fruit, the EU paid 1.298 euros per kilo.
Spain leads the ranking of suppliers of vegetables and fruits to the eurospean Union, with 18.5 percent of the total volume. It sold the Union 10,705.12 million kilos of produce. The value of those sales has totalled 11,654.7 million euros, with an average price of 1.089 euros per kilo.
The Netherlands is the second largest fruit and vegetable supplier to the eurospean Union, with total sales of vegetables and fruits reaching 8,138.87 million kilos (14.06%), sold for 8,943.48 million euros, with an average price of 1.099 euros per kilo.
The third most important supplier was France, with global fruit and vegetable sales reaching 4,736.69 million kilos (8.18%), for which the country received 2,950.69 million euros; an average price of 0.623 euros per kilo.
Morocco is in the eleventh place of the ranking, with 1,122.36 million kilos of vegetables and fruits (1.94%), a value of 1,357.91 million euros and an average price of 1.21 euros per kilo.
Turkey appears in the twelfth position among the largest EU suppliers. Its total volume was of 1,005.98 million kilos (1.74%), for which the country received 2,354.24 million euros; an average of 2.34 euros per kilo.
hina, which ranks tenth, sold the EU a total of 348.64 million kilos of vegetables at an average price of 1.555 euros per kilo, reaching a total value of 542.02 million euros. ■
A strong storm that originated over the Pacific has tracked through the Great Basin and is currently transitioning across the Rockies to redevelop across the central High Plains later today into early Saturday morning.