South African grapefruit exporters were on target with their estimates that 15.3 million cartons of the fruit would be shipped during the 2025 citrus season.
Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA) CEO Boitshoko Ntshabele noted in his latest newsletter that in April 2025, the association’s Grapefruit Variety Focus Group had estimated a crop of 15.3 million cartons for 2025.
“This was about a million cartons above last year’s packed figures but in line with the three-year average. As it turns out, this original estimate was bang on as the industry has finished on 15.3 million cartons of grapefruit,” Ntshabele noted.
He said the arrival of South African fruit coincided with the end of the Northern Hemisphere supply. For classes one and two fruit, Europe received slightly more fruit in 2025 (47% or roughly 95 700 tons) compared to 2024 (43%), while cartons to China declined from 10% to 6% of the total volume (12 750 tons).
“The only other notable change was for the Russian market, receiving 14% in 2025 compared to 11% in 2024. All other markets received roughly similar percentages to last year. Export volumes to the US were up from 10 200 tons in 2024 to 13 600 tons (or 7% of the total),” Ntshabele said.
He added that China had received 82% of the total fruit for processing.
“Grapefruit was packed in steady numbers from April through to mid-July, peaking in week 19. Markets seemed to have responded well to predictable supply and prices remained stable throughout the season,” he said.
