South African citrus growers and exporters are bullish about the start of the season, which will start up to 10 days late, with easy peelers coming onto the market in the next few weeks.
Martin Dunnett from Capespan spoke to FPJ from South Africa, where he has been visiting growers over the last two weeks.
Total citrus exports from South Africa this year are expected to be around 75 million cartons, he said.
Early easy-peeler volumes are expected to be 25 per cent lower than last season, and fruit will be one size up from last year. The later areas will also have larger fruit and volumes will be lower, he added.
The first month of packing will see lower volumes than the same time last year.
Dunnett told FPJ: “It is difficult to pinpoint the causes of the reduction in volume and the increase in size. There were good rains in December, but January was drier, and this may have affected fruit size. Exports are growing year on year, and the market is strong at the moment and prices are high.”
Additional plantings across all lines are boosting confidence across the industry, he added.
The grapefruit crop is set to come on stream at the end of May or early June, and is forecast to be 20 per cent lower than last season.
Oranges will come on stream in mid-June, but it is still too early to say how the crop will shape up in terms of volume and size.
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