More Egyptian citrus exporters are pointing to the slow pace of the orange export campaign. Mahmoud Esawy, Export Manager at Citrus Agro, adds his voice stating that "demand is clearly lower than last year in many of our key markets, with the exception of Russia".
"Demand is disappointing across our markets, in Europe, Asia and Africa, for many reasons. First of all, we're short of large sizes, which are most appreciated in Europe. The percentage of large calibers is only around 20% of the crop, which is a serious obstacle to export flows," Esawy adds.
The exporter continues, "This is also our first campaign since the significant reduction in subsidies on exports. We are now faced with the reality of production costs, which have risen sharply in recent years. This means that all exporters must focus on markets that offer a good return and that markets, where we used to concentrate more on large volumes, are taking secondary importance. In this respect, a key and historic market has become less interesting, and that's the Gulf States."
The loss of competitiveness of Egyptian oranges has manifested itself in India, where demand is disappointing, according to Esawy: "We were expecting strong demand in the Indian market at this stage of the season, but we've come up against competition from China as well as local production, and demand is much slower than normal". Export flows to India and other key Asian markets for Egyptian oranges remain also affected by the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea.
"Our export performance remains limited this season to the Russian market, which is proving solid, and to the large sizes exported at higher prices to Europe," Esawy concludes.
Last season, Egypt achieved a great performance in terms of citrus export volumes, crossing the two-million-tonnes mark for the first time, despite a drop in value per tonne compared to the 2022/2023 season.
For more information:
Mahmoud Esawy
Citrus Agro For Packing And Exporting Agriculture Crops
Tel: +20 1114061313
Email: mahmoudesawy@citrusagro.com
www.citrusagro.com