The Egyptian orange campaign is coming to a premature end due to difficulties in sourcing oranges for export. Zeinab Mohammed, export sales representative at Al Solimania, says: "It's getting increasingly difficult to source the right size oranges in Egypt, and we're nearing the end of a difficult season."
The exporter adds: "I don't think the campaign will go beyond April 25 at the latest. As everyone knows, we've had a big sizing problem, with only 20% of orange production in large sizes, of which only around 40% can be exported."
© Alsolimania
The season is marked by the emergence of new players who have reshaped the orange industry in Egypt. Zeinab explains that "given the shortage of oranges in Brazil for concentrate factories, Egyptian factories are flourishing, and many have been launched this season. They are certainly doing a good job, but this reduces the availability of oranges for exporters."
"As a result, orange prices on the local market reached unprecedented levels due to demand from processing factories. It has been difficult for us to compete. At Al Solimania, we have our own production, but we also rely on contracting other farms. With local demand and the scarcity of large sizes, sourcing was difficult during the season and is certainly more difficult as we're nearing the end of the campaign," Zeinab continues.
© Zeinab
In terms of market demand, Al Solimania carried out most of its business with Russia, according to Zeinab: "Almost 80% of our volumes went to Russian supermarkets, while the rest was distributed to our other customers in Europe, the Far East, and elsewhere. A novelty of this season is that we have exported more volumes to the Caribbean, a small but very promising market," she concludes.
For more information:
Zeinab Mohamed
Al Solimania
Tel: +201070711302
Email: zeinab@alsolimania.com