The Valencian Community is the largest producer of citrus fruits in Spain, as it contributes almost half of the total, and the second of plants and flowers, but it has some Achilles' heels: the low productivity of the sector, together with labor costs above the average, mainly in the marketing phase, translates into 14% less competitiveness than the national average. "A challenge is to improve their productivity," the study concludes.
It is one of the descriptions of the Observatory of the agri-food sector of the Spanish regions of Cajamar, prepared by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE) and presented yesterday at the CEV headquarters in Valencia. The study has been prepared by the deputy director of the IVIE and professor at the University of Valencia, Joaquín Maudos, in collaboration with the economist, also from the IVIE, Jimena Salamanca.
The report highlights the evolution of the sector's exports in the Valencian Community, which after growing by 9% in 2020 despite COVID-19, once again registered an increase in 2021 of 12.2%.
In total, during the past year, the region exported agri-food products worth 7,825 million euros, which represents 13.2% of the national total. Of these, citrus fruits (the leading producer with 48.2% of production) and plants (16.6%, only behind Andalusia) are particularly important.
The study places the Valencian Community as the third largest exporting economy in the sector with the third highest trade surplus in 2021: it reaches 3,225 million euros. Germany and France are the main export markets and edible fruits and nuts are their main exported product (46.4% of their agri-food exports).
In the Valencian Community there are 2,534 companies, 8.4% of the total number of companies in the Spanish agri-food industry, and in its business structure micro-enterprises predominate, accounting for 62.5%, surpassing that of Spain by almost 4 points.
In this profile, the study also detects some striking realities, such as the one highlighted by the president of Cajamar, Eduardo Baamonde, who has pointed out the aging of farm managers as a challenge, since 90.9% are over 45 years, which places it as the community with the highest figure, exceeding the Spanish average, which amounts to 86%. “The primary sector is losing weight in the chain and the industry is gaining it; including the marketer link, the primary represents 24%, industry, 25%, and commerce, 51%", he pointed out.
Another of the factors highlighted in the report is that the Gross Added Value (GVA) of the Valencian agri-food sector has grown by 9.7%, placing the community as the fifth with the highest increase in the national ranking. The reason, he points out, is the rise of the trading sector, with almost 14%, since it is a region more specialized in trading than in transforming its products.
