South Africa produces record citrus crop

South Africa will see a record crop of citrus exports this year with close to 137 million boxes of citrus fruit expected to move to more than 100 countries. This comes after a record crop last year that yielded a revenue of nearly R19 billion. According to John Edmonds, information manager for the

Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA), the main driver of this growth is in the soft citrus and lemon categories. “However, the net growth in these categories is somewhat muted due to a 3%

decline in Valencia oranges,” said Edmonds. Valencia oranges make up the biggest portion of the citrus export market at 39%, followed by navel oranges at 20%, lemons 16%, soft citrus 13% and grapefruit 12%. The South African citrus industry has continued to show resilience over the past few years in the face of ongoing pressure from some of the country’s biggest export markets around increasingly harsh phytosanitary requirements. Citrus Black Spot (CBS) in particular has forced growers to implement costly mitigation measures to meet

the stringent requirements of the European Union. According to the CGA, these CBS mitigation measures cost the citrus industry around R1.86 billion per year. Despite these challenges, citrus growers have continued to rally, delivering two record crops for the export market in succession in 2017 and 2018 with a third expected this year. Last year South Africa also became the world’s biggest grapefruit exporter. Edmonds said South Africa was expected to export less grapefruit this year – an estimated 15.1 million cartons, 9% down on last

year’s 16.5 million. “For Valencia oranges, our expected exports from the Southern African regions are 52.9 million cartons which is 3% down on last year’s 54.4 million cartons,” he said. “Our navel export volume is expected to be the same as last year at 26.9 million cartons. That is 3% more than our 2015 exports.” It is, however, in lemons where the region’s good news lies. Lemon exports are expected to grow by two million cartons this year with the total volume now approaching the 22 million carton mark as new orchards come into production.