European lime arrivals fall to a fifth of normal as Brazilian shipments are cut

European lime supply is entering the tightest stretch of the current campaign, with arrivals from Brazil falling to about a fifth of normal weekly volumes and purchase prices in the Netherlands almost doubling within a week, according to the Italian edition of FreshPlaza.

Giorgio Donnarumma, sales manager at Milan-based importer Nuovafrutta, said the containers scheduled to arrive from Brazil in the coming weeks are not even half of what they should be, but a fifth. The shortfall will be most visible in the week now beginning, while the following week will bring somewhat more without lifting volumes anywhere near the European norm.

Eighteen containers against a 120-140 weekly norm

The most telling figure concerns arrivals in week 39 of 2026, when Europe is due to receive only a fraction of its usual supply.

• Week 39 of 2026: 18 containers of lime arriving in Europe
• Following week: 47-48 containers expected
• Normal weekly range: 120-140 containers, with peaks of up to 150

Donnarumma described the second week as still very little compared with the European weekly average, and said the number of containers arriving remains the single indicator he watches to judge where the market goes next. Forecasts over a longer horizon, he added, are always complicated.

Purchase prices move from €5.50 to €11-12

The supply cut is already visible in quotations. Up to a week earlier the product was bought in the Netherlands at €5.50-6, Donnarumma said; sellers are now asking €9, and in some cases €10 has already been paid. For the week ahead the indicated trend is towards €11-12 on purchase.

Nuovafrutta expects a lively market. In Italy the tail end of the summer trade is still running, but the phase of sharp price increases is already being felt, according to Donnarumma.

Phytosanitary rejections at origin and a vessel under repair

The reduction in volumes is linked to checks carried out on the fruit at origin over phytosanitary problems affecting limes. Because the merchandise is inspected before shipment and orders are cut when problems are found, accurate figures are difficult to obtain far in advance. A comparable situation occurred in the previous campaign, when several containers were destroyed and, in some cases, the lime stem was removed.

On top of that came an incident aboard a vessel of the shipping line Maersk, currently held at the Brazilian port of Salvador for repairs — in Donnarumma's words, rain falling on already wet ground. He expects conditions to worsen before they improve.

Spanish fruit and air freight cover only part of the gap

Spanish limes are present on the European market and are helping to level prices and provide quantity, but the volumes are not large enough to change the situation, Donnarumma said. When shortages appear, operators typically look for alternatives and request air shipments from origins such as Colombia, Peru, Guatemala and Honduras, or wherever limes can be found; he reported no indications of such operations so far.

For the next two to three weeks Donnarumma expects nothing to change and prices to stay high, with the situation potentially running four to five weeks. A single week of heavier loadings out of Brazil could normalise trade quickly, and once arrivals return to 130-140 containers a week prices should come down. Seasonality may then reinforce the correction, as lime consumption falls in winter and the market can drop to lower levels rapidly.