Clementines close

A new Spanish forecast collating data from Ailimpo, Anecoop and other sources in the industry has predicted that the country will produce a lower volume of citrus during the 2012/13 campaign.

The forecast predicted that overall volumes would drop 5.74 per cent on a year-on-year basis, down 372,000 tonnes to 6.1m tonnes.

Mandarin production will fall 13.1 per cent to 2.08m tonnes, with clementines dropping 17.6 per cent to 1.4m tonnes, although satsumas should climb 47 per cent to 192,000 tonnes.

Orange volumes should increase marginally, the forecast predicted, up 1.97 per cent to 3.1m tonnes, with lemon numbers down 12.1 per cent to 870,000 tonnes and grapefruit production up 3.9 per cent to 53,000 tonnes.