AMITOM crop update as of 28 May 2025

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Sophie
June 2, 2025

AMITOM crop update as of 28 May 2025

Bulgaria

A lot of heavy rain last week delayed transplanting this week, and it should now finish around 10 June. There are no problems so far in the fields despite temperatures remaining a bit lower than normal. The forecast is unchanged.

France

Planting should finish at the end of next week in the Southeast, which is quite normal, and around 10 June in the Southwest where it started very late but more or less caught up thanks to the good weather over the last two weeks. Development in the fields is good, and the weather forecast for next week is favourable. No change in the forecast.

Greece

The crop is evolving well. Practically transplanting has finished and the adverse weather of last weekend did not cause any damage. We maintain our forecast of 450.000 tonnes.

Hungary

On May 10, frost was still affecting our plantations. The planting, including corrections, was completed around May 20. The month of May was unusually cold, as a result of which the seedlings were inhibited in their development. We are waiting for the arrival of good weather, which is expectable from Sunday according to the weather forecasts. The annual crop forecast remains unchanged.

Iran

It is still difficult to make accurate estimate as official statistics are not reliable. A reduction in volume is expected in the south and the expectations now are for a volume of 1.8 to 1.9 million tonnes instead of 2 million tonnes previously reported. Harvesting has not yet started in the north. Processors are facing many challenges this year including a water shortage, power cuts due to residential use being often favoured over industry in case of insufficient power, and growers selling to the fresh market where they can get better returns. Currency issues, notably due to the Iran-USA relations are also affecting the industry.

Italy

In the North, during the month of May the tomato seedling transplant operations continued more normally with fewer problems due to rain. The temperatures have been within a normal range and the development of the crop is fine much better that last year at the same date, and the canopy development is good. As of today, about 80-85 % of the fields have been planted and the operation will continue in the next couple of weeks in June to be completed by 15-20 June. The forecast remains unchanged at around 3 million tonnes.

In the Centre-South, the situation is normal for the tomato seedling transplanting that have been completed in Caserta area and it’s nearly finished in other regions apart from some late crop will be planted in June. In Puglia the reduction of planted area is about 3,000 hectares, partially compensated by larger surfaces in other areas. The main concern remains the water availability for irrigation since the Occhito dam remain with a water volume halved compared last year (to date the water available is 75 million cubic metres compared to the value of 141 million cubic metres available last year). The crops are in good development conditions and no significant problems have been reported.

The total forecast for Italy remains unchanged at 5.6 million tonnes.

Portugal

The weather finally started to improve in the last couple of weeks with temperatures of 25-30°C during the day and 15-16°C at night so planting operations were at 72% of total surfaces as of last Sunday and should finish around 10 June. It is however expected that not all the surfaces initially planned will be planted so the total volume expectation is adjusted from 1.4 to 1.35 million tonnes.

Spain

The weather was finally good in May and transplanting is now nearly finished in Andalusia and in Vegas Altas in Extremadura. In the Vegas Bajas of Extremadura, 70% of the surfaces will be planted between 5 May and 5 June which will mean a concentration of the crop in September. Temperatures are now very high with 37 to 40 °C expected from today to Sunday so transplanting is often done at night or early or late in the day. A reduction of the total surface is probable but a possible diminution in the crop size from the 2.6 million tonnes previously expected can only be evaluated after the end of the planting, toward the end of next week.

Turkey

The crop forecast is being lowered to 2.4 million tonnes. The reasons behind this is that the farmers did not like the prices given. In addition, the planting period was delayed due to weather. In the south the planting is over but with delays and in the North the planting is expected to be finished this week.

Tunisia

The area devoted to growing seasonal tomatoes for industrial processing is around 15,000 hectares. As of 14 May 2025, water reserves stood at almost 952 million m³, spread across 36 dams, with a filling rate of 40%, a clear improvement on the 795 million m³ recorded for the same period in 2024. In terms of plant health, the general state of crops is deemed acceptable, although a few localised fungal outbreaks have been detected. However, recent rainfall has caused soil waterlogging, disrupting the treatment schedule. Despite this, field observations reveal encouraging yield prospects, particularly in the governorate of Kairouan, where agronomic indicators (number of flowers, vigour of plant cover, etc.) are very promising. The launch of processing operations is scheduled for the second half of June, with a gradual increase in the rate of tomato deliveries expected between the end of June and the beginning of July.