11% Drop In Spanish Canned Exports Due To Mercosurff

Spanish canned exports registered, in 2002, an average reduction of 11% with respect to the previous year, with a total of 117,000 tons, volume which corresponds to 429 million euros turnover to the export markets of this important product sector of the fishing transforming industry.

According to Juan Manuel Vieites, Secretary General of the National Association of Canned Fish and Shellfish Producers, ANFACO, based in Vigo, Spain, the reduction suffered by the canneries has its main cause in the deep economic crisis of the main countries of the Mercosur, Argentina and Brazil. Also the weakening of the US dollar compared to the Euro was mentioned as argument.

Yet, the canning sector returned to authenticate its numbers of previous years and has continued accumulating, this time, a 2% of increase in the value of products and a 3.3% in general volume.  In the year 2002, the canning production reached 250,000 tons, with a value of 765 million euros.  Once again, the “star” of canned product is tuna, representing 70% of the total production and accumulating 4,5% produce increase in 2002, compared to a 3.5% increase of muscles or 7% of the anchovies, which was the product with the most sales growth during the previous year.

In addition to effects derived from crisis from Argentina, where the market and economy has gradually collapsed in the last two years, the Secretary General of ANFACO also ties the fall of the exports to the attacks of September 11th in the United States.  He also remarked that the Spanish canneries experience great problems in sending and selling their products to the US market with a certain profit.

Juan Manuel Vieites also talked about the problems that the North American psychosis has generated on foreign products such as the antiterrorist inspection and monitoring which is demanded upon foreign companies. For example, large quantities of product from the Philippines and Taiwan have been rejected in the United States, in a time that the European Union had opened its doors widely to facilitate the massive entrance of these products. According to Veites: "cheaper but of poor quality and low health standards".  Vieites also mentioned that supermarket private labels, the so-called “white brands”, have begun to gain terrain with giant steps, and therefore, the canning sector should study the phenomenon and attack it.

Source: Spanish Press