The rains at the end of October and beginning of November had a very positive impact on the citrus crops of the Vega del Guadalquivir, but according to a sector operator, "the water and humidity have taken a toll on the fruit's condition, causing it to rot more easily. This is why it is very important to be careful with the harvesting and handling to avoid problems with the fruit's shelf life."
"As far as the demand is concerned, until a few days ago there were still supermarkets selling imported oranges, and although there wasn't much demand from consumers, in recent days, Valencian trading companies have been ordering large volumes of oranges to be picked in Cordoba and Seville, given the situation in Valencia."
"The fruit is reaching prices at source of between 27 and 35 cents per kilo, not including harvesting or transport. However, the problem is that there's a predominance of small sizes this year in the area; in fact, between 40 and 70% of the total, depending on the batches, are small sizes, so many retailers that have paid these prices at source are finding it difficult to sell those oranges, partly also because supermarkets have set relatively low prices for orange nets," says the operator.
"Large-sized oranges and oranges with leaf are selling really well, although it is true that things are going slower than in other years. We see that more and more growers are starting to produce oranges with leaf, but in order for this market to remain profitable, you have to be aware that this product needs to be handled properly, with a good selection of sizes and good packaging," he says.
"Oranges with leaf have their niche and are sold at good prices in markets such as Italy, Belgium and France. Still, if we started handling oranges with leaf in any way, prices would be affected, and that's exactly what we want to avoid," says the operator.
"We saw the result of this last year with Egyptian oranges. We are still in November, but in mid-December the first Egyptian oranges will start to arrive on the market and, although we haven't been hearing anything about this yet, we'll have to wait and see how the season develops, because we can't deny that they have increasingly more fruit, and of higher quality," he says.