RT.com
19 Mar 2023, 15:44 GMT+10
Buoyant demand from abroad is reportedly making the products less affordable domestically
Spaniards are facing surging prices for tomatoes and pork amid burgeoning demand for the products from abroad and geopolitical tensions, the Financial Times reported this week, citing the billionaire owner of Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona.
According to the businessman, who is ranked as Spain's fourth-richest person, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has heavily weighed on tomato prices as it resulted in sharp surge in prices for natural gas, forcing farmers to shut down production of vegetables in greenhouses in Northern Europe due to high heating costs.
As a result, buyers flocked to Spain's solar-powered growers, pushing up prices from €1.39 per kilogram in January 2021 to €2.05 today.
"The cost has gone up by a whopping 66 cents. We've raised prices by 50%," Roig said, as quoted by the newspaper.
"So we had two options: either buy tomatoes or leave customers without tomatoes. And we believed it was more important to have tomatoes at €2.05 than to not have tomatoes."
According to Roig, the price of pork, vital for making Iberian ham, has skyrocketed due to soaring demand from China, for which Spain is a major supplier.
"There are one billion Chinese people," the businessman said. "How much did they ask for? . . . I don't know. What I do know is that pork cost €1.05 [per kilogram in January 2021] and now it costs €1.96."
Earlier this week, the country's national institute of statistics (INE) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food stood at 16.6% in February, marking the highest level since 1994. This is despite the IVA (Spain's sales tax) reductions adopted during the previous month.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Shanghai Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Shanghai Sun.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has made public a visa decision that would usually be kept private. It did this to send...
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump says the United States could soon reach a trade deal with India. He believes this deal would...
KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghanistan, long associated with war and instability, is quietly trying to rebrand itself as a destination for...
Three people were killed in the early hours of July 6 in Razgrad, when a 19-year-old driver crashed a car into a groupsitting outside...
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): Widespread rainfall across Himachal Pradesh has severely affected essential public...
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): A total of 74 people have lost their lives in Himachal Pradesh since the onset of...
London [UK], July 5 (ANI): The 'Spice Girls' star Mel B has tied the knot with hairstylist Rory McPhee. The wedding took place on...