The first US-bound South African citrus containers of the season have arrived in Philadelphia this week but specialised reefer shipments are due to dock some ten days later than last year.
The delay in the first vessel, which will now arrive in the US during the first week of July, comes on the back of later-than-expected fruit colouring following warmer weather during the early season.
However, the Cape winter has now well and truly arrived and industry sources say things are expected to speed up.
Nonetheless, South African citrus growers will be frustrated by the late start, given the fact that exchange rate between the South African Rand and the US dollar is so favourable at present.
South Africa’s Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum (WCCPF) says it is continuing to see demand in the US for the South African citrus, largely because of the superior quality that the market’s importers and retailers have come to rely upon.
The full report will be published in the June/July issue of Americafruit.
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