"Lemons a bright spot on overseas citrus market"

There is no talk of a great start to the overseas citrus season. This, despite a regular harvest of problem-free citrus varieties being expected. Orange prices were at an all-time low last week. Mandarins are divided in the market. Despite fewer shipment to Europe, grapefruit prices are also at a lower level. It is only the lemon market that is developing relatively well. This is the information Eddy Kreukniet of the Dutch company, Exsa Europe, gives in his update.

"Oranges have been under enormous pressure over the last few months. This is as a result of the oversupply of, especially, the Egyptian fruit. Prices are at a historic low", says Eddy. "You can see the Europeans effort to try and slow down the South African product. This is according to the statistics. This delayed the foreign season. Meanwhile, clients went looking for a better quality alternative. There is also an increased demand for South African oranges. There is still a considerable jump to normal prices."

 

"With mandarins, we see a division in the market. In general, there has been a massive consumption of Satsumas over the past few weeks. This is, probably, largely due to the warm weather. There is also other summer fruit available. There are still excessive amounts of Satsumas in stock. Prices are also very low", says Eddy. "In contrast, there is a limited supply of varieties such as Novas and Clementines. Here, supply and demand are in balance. There will also not be a too-big-a supply of these varieties in the coming weeks."

"The grapefruit market is strange. There has been 10-15% less of this fruit shipped to Europe. This has, however, not led to a revival in the market. You would, at the very least, expect the same market as last year. The situation is, in fact, somewhat worse. We cannot quite lay our finger on the reason for this. There is, however, more demand for smaller-sized fruit", explains Eddy. 

He describes the lemon market as relatively positive. "Spain left the market very early this year with their Vernas. We see that South Africa has sent more lemons to Europe than in previous years. Prices are not as high as expected. They are, however, still at a good level. In any case, Spain is not in the way on the lemon market. We, therefore, expect stable prices. At the most, they will drop slightly", concludes Eddy.