New Zealand’s citrus industry is holding its annual conference in Gisborne today, with the big issue under discussion expected to be the profitability of export markets.
New Zealand Citrus Growers Inc (NZCGI) chairman Rick Curtis said New Zealand’s exporters are finding it increasingly difficult to compete on overseas markets, reported Radio New Zealand.
The mandarin and lemon market in Japan, he said, was particularly tricky in the face of competition from South American and Northern Hemisphere suppliers.
Shifts in exchange rates were another particular concern for the industry, the Radio New Zealand report said.
New Zealand citrus industry covers around 1,700ha between 500 growers, according to the NZCGI, with NZ$5m worth of lemons, mandarins and oranges exported annually.
Japan and the US are the largest markets for New Zealand’s lemons – 500 tonnes of the fruit was exported in 2008/09 – and Japan and the UK are the main markets for mandarins, of which 750 tonnes were exported in 2008/09.
Around 90 per cent of the country’s orange exports are sent to the Pacific Islands.
