Andalusian citrus producers are concerned about the impact of orange imports from Egypt. The conflict between Israel and Gaza has made things worse, as Egyptian exports -which are traditionally destined for China, Turkey, or Arab countries- are now being redirected to European Union markets.
According to Asaja-Sevilla, this change of destination has negatively impacted the orange market, especially on the price of oranges for juice, which has halved in the last 20 days. Ricardo Serra, president of Asaja-Sevilla, said that the massive influx of Egyptian oranges has caused prices to decrease and a collapse in national production.
One of the demands of citrus growers in the protests of recent months is the mandatory indication of the origin of the oranges on juice labels so that consumers are fully informed at the time of purchase. According to Serra, Egyptian oranges have managed to invade the European market because of their low prices, which has led the industry to buy large quantities of this fruit.
EU citrus imports from Egypt have experienced exponential growth in recent years. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, imports have gone from 122,547 tons between January and October 2014 to 487,927 in the same period of 2023 (+109% over the previous year). The value of these imports has also grown significantly, from 56.6 million euros to 288.5 million euros (i.e. increasing by more than 114%).
This month, Asaja Córdoba filed a complaint with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA) over sales of Egyptian oranges with a label that suggests they were produced in Palma del Río, Córdoba. The agricultural organization has requested the opening of a procedure for these irregularities, highlighting that consumers were misled by eye-catching labels reading 'National Orange' and 'Guaranteed Origin' that only stated the actual origin of the fruit in fine print.
Source: laprovincia.es