Israel's 2024 citrus season generally started well, with some concern of how the longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope to reach Asian markets will eventually impact the arrival quality of the fruit. According to Rafi Zuri, citrus product manager at Galilee Exports, "Until now we shipped most of the grapefruit to Europe and from now on we are starting to ship to the Far East. This is a challenge, because the Suez Canal is not functioning. We have to make longer shipments around South Africa, which takes 50-60 days."
He says prices are not high because there's still South African grapefruit in the market. "Prices are not that high, because there's still grapefruit from South Africa in the market. Prices are not as high as in the past two years. The pace of sales is regular. We send almost everything to Europe," states Zuri.
Israel's grapefruit season started in week 39. "We started a month ago at the end of September with grapefruit and with Sweeties two weeks before that. We shipped more or less according to the program. Our two main citrus products are grapefruit, which will generally be more or less like last year, and Orri, which for this year has a yield that is lower than last year. The expectation is for lower Orri exports. It also depends on the Spanish crop, because they also grow and compete on Orri. We have to know about the Spanish crop in order to forecast market prices. Usually, we start before Spain, so we might have a good window from the end of December for the Orri's. We see the demand for mandarins during the winter months is higher in December, January and February."
Zuri says with the long journeys around Africa due to the rebel attacks in the Red Sea affecting passage through the Suez Canal, they are taking special care to pack the fruit. "This season the shipping companies take a straight route around Africa, but it's still a longer voyage. We put a lot of focus in the pack houses to ensure the best quality citrus fruit for these destinations. It's a major market for us, last year we were hit badly, a lot of fruit was delayed. It remains to be seen how the fruit will arrive. Hopefully, it will arrive in good condition for us to declare the exports a success in the East," concludes Zuri.
For more information:
Rafi Zuri,
Galilee Exports
[email protected]
www.galilee-export.com