Season-on-season export volumes of South Korean Winter Unshu oranges are forecast to rise by 1,300 tonnes over the 2013/14 season, according to the latest Global Agriculture Information Network report released by the USDA.
However, the total shipments of the fruit are still unlikely to surpass 5,000 tonnes. The report attributes the marginal increase to a growing number of growers joining an export support programme developed by the Jeju provincial government.
Export volumes to the US are expected to rise further in the future, after the Environmental Protection Agency established a tolerance level for the fungicide Mancozeb in July 2013.
Meanwhile, orange import volumes are likely to remain at a similar level to 2012/13 (150,00 tonnes) due to a developing consumer demand for newer fruit lines, opposed to traditional staples such as bananas, oranges and pineapples.
Additionally, solid domestic harvests over the last two seasons have decreased South Korea’s reliance on orange imports, with Winter Unshu production likely to top 90,000 in 2013/2014.
Conversely, lemon imports look set to rise again this season, following a 20 per cent increase in shipment volumes to 12,00 tonnes last year. The report pointed to increasing lemonade sales during summer months as a key driver for this growth.
Grapefruit imports also grew marginally in 2012/2013, with the US accounting for over 90 per cent of shipments.
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