The market for early South African citrus is not yet very active, observes Edwin Wolf of the Rotterdam-based Origin Fruit Group. “In the meantime, the supply is starting to improve, after South Africa was continuously delayed for a long time. We saw this in particular with lemons, where large volumes were still in stock from Spain. But now the volumes are circulating more.”
He observes an opposite situation on the grapefruit market. “There, the supply at the beginning of the season started smoothly with large volumes, but this market is now declining and the supply is also ending earlier. Sales of early mandarins are also moderate. »
“The season started with average quality satsumas and there is also very little demand for clementine-type varieties. Demand is more focused on strong varieties such as Nova and Leanri and some customers are already asking for Nadorcott, but they are still in short supply.”
Europe’s supply of South African oranges is also significantly behind schedule. “So far, shipments to Europe have decreased by 50% compared to last year, which was also not a very good year,” Wolf observes. “South African producers anticipated the large volumes from Egypt, but most importantly, they do not need to export because of the high juice prices paid on the local market. These prices are currently higher than what we can pay in Europe.”
“Normally, Brazil is the main supplier to the fruit juice industry, but its harvest was poor, so demand is now met by Egypt and South Africa. We anticipate these shortages could continue for another two years. Currently, Europe still has Egyptian oranges, but they are largely covered by the programs. I don’t expect anyone to care about selling these products. »
“As far as South Africa is concerned, it is entirely possible to send large volumes. Prices for Navels from South Africa are between €15-17 and Valencia prices are closer to €18-19, which is more than double what we still get from Egypt,” continues Wolf. “But the weather in Europe isn’t cooperating yet. First, the rain led to low demand and now it is the heat that would once again limit sales. Fortunately, there are always exceptions. For example, the prices of limes have started to rise again. »
For more informationions :
Edwin Wolf
Origin Fruit Group
[email protected]
www.originfruitgroup.com
