Royal FloraHolland:
Mother's Day and two extra auction days increased revenue by 2.5%
The increase is the result of a 3.2% higher average price. In contrast, the supply was 0.6% lower than last year. As Pentecost and Ascension Day fall this year in period 6 rather than in period 5, the increased revenue in period 5 of this year is distorted by two additional auction days. Period 5 included Mother's Day in 2017 as well as in 2016. But Mother's Day 2017 brought in €6.5 million more than Mother's Day 2016.
Direct trade
Regarding the direct flows, cut flowers increased by 1.7%-points to 32.1%. A strong increase was noted for peony and spray chrysanthemum. Lilies, freesia and hortensia decreased in this period. The share of houseplants rose by 1.6%-points to 80.3%. Large increases were seen for hortensia, begonia and hibiscus. Phalaenopsis grew by almost 1%-point. Outdoor plants were responsible for a share of 73.8%, which is an increase of 2.1%. The top performers in terms of share in this group were carnations, calibrachoa, arrangements and clematis.
Export value increased by 2.5%
The export figures for April from Floridata are the latest published figures available. There was a large difference between cut flowers and plants this month. Plant exports declined by 3.3% while the export of cut flowers rose by 7.3%. Germany did not quite reach the level of last year with its decrease of -0.2%. The UK, France and Italy experienced growth of +3.8%, +9.9% and +4.5%, respectively. Exceptional performers in terms of growth in this period were Poland (+21.8%) and Russia (+31.4%). It is striking that the export to Scandinavia was especially difficult this month.
Turnover of cut flowers increased by 3.2%
Because the average price level rose by 3.3%, the turnover also increased. The supply lagged behind with a drop of 0.1%. The price of roses increased by 5.5%, and thus helped raise the average price level of cut flowers considerably. Tulips underwent a large price increase of 26.2%. In contrast, there were also large drops in price such as spray chrysanthemums (-16.4%) and peony (-11.6%). This last product had to cope with a 42% increase in supply and thus shows the biggest increase in turnover and supply this period.
Turnover of houseplants increased by 6.3%
The supply rose by 6.6% and the average price level was 0.3% lower. Kalanchoë stood out due to the increased supply in this period (+16.5%).
Price level of outdoor plants increased by 10%
Among outdoor plants the turnover decreased by 5.8%. This was the result of almost 15% lower supply and 10% higher price. The decreased supply was evident in the larger product groups such as 'Other bedding plants' and 'Pelargonium'.
Source: Royal FloraHolland