ZMP consumer preview for the month of March

No price jumps in sight

When purchasing agricultural products in March, consumers can often count on the previous prices; slight increases are only possible towards the end of the month due to the upcoming Easter festival at the beginning of April. This is especially true for beef, veal and lamb, which will be increasingly in demand. However, there are no signs of sharp price jumps in this sector, nor on the egg market, where the supply will by and large suffice for the growing interest in buying.

For the time being, there are no measurable effects on the German poultry market from the outbreak of bird flu in Asia. Demand-covering quantities are therefore still available at stable prices, on the turkey market there could even be cheaper prices due to overhangs. Drinking milk, fresh milk products and cheese are also offered at slightly changed prices; Butter may be a little cheaper.

Good quality table potatoes are becoming increasingly scarce in March and continue to become more expensive, while weak lots remain comparatively cheap. Early potatoes, mainly from Egypt, Morocco and Israel, will increasingly play a role on the German market.

The apple stocks in Germany are still significantly larger than in the previous year, when there was little supply. Price increases are therefore likely to remain the exception, especially since high delivery volumes from countries in the southern hemisphere are again expected this spring. In the range of pears, there is a change from European storage pears to freshly harvested fruit from overseas. The proportion of small pears is very high this time, but they are cheaper than the scarcely available large calibers. The range of fruit in March will be enriched by a noticeable increase in strawberry deliveries from Spain.

Lettuce and mixed lettuce are likely to be sufficient on the market, and there are probably even plenty of iceberg lettuce from Spain. In the case of fruit vegetables, there is a change from southern European goods to western European varieties grown under glass. This means that tomatoes and cucumbers will temporarily be a little more expensive again, depending on the quantities on offer, after the price level had been quite low in the past few weeks, mainly due to the multiple poor quality of the southern European goods. The new European asparagus season is expected to start at the end of February / beginning of March. Spain is the most important supplier on the local market in the early phase of the season.

White cabbage is still plentiful and cheap, and red cabbage is not becoming more expensive either. German stocks of Chinese cabbage should be cleared by the end of February and will be replaced by fresh goods from Spain in March and April. The price increase that is regularly associated with this is probably moderate this time, because on the one hand the cultivation of Chinese cabbage has been expanded in Spain, and on the other hand the Spanish Chinese cabbage this time has greater competitive pressure from the inexpensive iceberg lettuce and pointed cabbage. In the case of stored carrots, the price range is quite wide due to the quality, and overall there will be little change in the demands for this vegetable.

Source: Bonn [ZmP]