Citrus production in northern hemisphere countries is set to see a small rise, despite a 20 per cent decrease in Spanish production.
Production in the Mediterranean basin and the US should reach 21.9 million tonnes, an increase of 0.5 per cent on last year, according to new data from Freshfel Europe in conjunction with the Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters.
The production in the Mediterranean basin should reach 17.4mt this year but Spain is expecting a 20 per cent decrease in its citrus production, which will fall to 5.4mt. Morocco and Israel are also both predicting a small decrease of one per cent.
But production increases are expected in Turkey (nine per cent), Egypt (five per cent), Greece (eight per cent) and Cyprus (three per cent).
Italy is set to experience a recovery in production, back to levels registered in the 2007-08 season, which is 36 per cent above the production for last season.
On the other side of the Atlantic, US production is expected to increase by two per cent and total citrus production should be just under 4.5mt.
Orange production is forecast to be 0.9 per cent up on last season despite a 1.2 per cent decrease in the Mediterranean Basin - this is largely due to huge decreases in production in Spain (down 27 per cent), Israel (down 19 per cent) and Morocco (down 10 per cent).
Production in Italy is forecast to be 53 per cent up on last season, making a full recovery on last year, with Egypt also expected to be five per cent up. Orange production in the US is set to increase by 11 per cent. Easy-peeler production is expected to be 1.5 per cent up overall due to the increase in 15 per cent from the US. Production levels in the Mediterranean Basin are expected to remain constant overall, with Italy (33 per cent), Israel (15 per cent) and Morocco (seven per cent) registering the largest increases, while Spain (down nine per cent) and Turkey (down eight per cent) are set to decrease production.
Lemons felt a 1.3 per cent decrease overall, with the US registering a 10 per cent decrease and Spain down 20 per cent, despite encouraging figures elsewhere.
Grapefruit production is expected to decrease by 1.2 per cent in total, due mainly to a nine per cent fall in US production.
Initial export forecasts show Italy making a strong recovery on last year with a predicted 35 per cent increase, driven by an 82 per cent increase for oranges and a 16 per cent increase for easy peelers.
Turkey is also expected to increase exports by 12 per cent this season, with 57 per cent more lemons and 13 per cent more grapefruit.
Spanish export volumes are forecast to decrease by just one per cent despite the significant decrease in production, with grapefruit and easy-peeler exports remain constant. Oranges and lemons will decrease slightly.
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