In May this year, Dutch exporters of flowers and plants increased the lead over last year and increased their export up to the end of May to EUR 2.8 billion. Following a boost of more than 7% in May, this rounds off to an increase of 3%. The Association of Wholesalers in Flower Nursery Products (VGB) announced an increase in sales of cut flowers, as well as sales of potted and garden plants.
The export value of potted and garden plants in particular showed an increase by 12% to EUR 263 million in May, as in April. The increase up to May was 5%, which equals a total value of a close EUR 1 billion. The export of cut flowers rose by 5% to EUR 387 million in May to a total of a little over EUR 1.7 billion. This means that the lead in the first five months now stands at 1.5%.
A record month
With a total sales value of EUR 650 million in May, the Dutch exporters set a new record. The last record dated from 2012 when there was a turnover of EUR 637 million and an increase of 19%.
Seven of the top ten export destinations managed to achieve an increase this year; Britain has been stable, and two countries showed a decrease. The Austrian market decreased by 3% over the past few months, and the structural decline of more than 30% to Russia continued.
The VGB based the list of top ten export destinations on export data collected from traders affiliated with Floridata.
Falling markets
After the decline of the export value to Austria by 13% last year, this tenth most important market for the Dutch exporters seemed to be on the way to recovery this year. However, there was a setback in May, especially for plants, which caused a shortfall of 3% to EUR 64 million in the first five months of 2016. Despite this, Austria managed to pass Russia in the top ten and now stands in ninth place.
For the time being, no stabilisation or recovery of the Russian market is anticipated. In May 2015, Russia was still the sixth most important destination for flowers and plants from the Netherlands, but this former flower and plant superpower has now fallen to tenth place. Poor economic circumstances and the plunging exchange rate of the Ruble mean a bleak prospect for export to Russia, and a further decline of their market share is expected.
In the first months of 2016, Dutch exporters managed an above-average growth in five of the top ten countries. Belgium (+11%) tops this list, followed by Poland (+10%), Italy, Germany, and Sweden (+5%).
Exports to Germany have risen, contrary to the experts’ expectations, rising by 5% to EUR 855 million by the end of May.
In France, all segments, wholesale, retail, and garden centres showed poor flower and plant sales, although there was a small rise of almost 2% in the first five months. In Britain, the export turnover fluctuated wildly: from an increase of 21% in February to a decline of 10% in April. The export turnover to Britain is comparable to last year after an increase of 6% in May.
