Weak rand buoys citrus industry

Contradicting fears at
the beginning of the
season, the citrus export
industry fared better than
expected in the 2011/12
season, according to
Justin Chadwick, CEO
of the Citrus Growers’
Association (CGA).
“At the beginning of the
year there were concerns
about how the season
would unfold,” he told
FTW. “These concerns
were that it would be a
poor year, but everyone
has indicated that it was,
instead, a fair-to-good
year.”
Broken down into
the various citrus
commodities, there were
varying fortunes.
Grapefruit, for example,
had a relatively flat year,
according to CGA records.
The crop was mainly
small grapefruit, and more
suitable for processing
than as fresh fruit.
However, lemons had a
good year, as low volumes
coming out of Argentina
– a major competitor in
the southern hemisphere
– boosted SA’s exports
considerably. “There
were again pre-season
worries about size and
low volumes,” Chadwick
added, “but we actually
had a good crop and
markets held up. This was
aided by sensible market
monitoring of things like
prices and trends, and it
turned out to be a good
year in the end.”
There is a wide variety
of soft citrus grown and
exported, and a lot of
varieties in the market
for these fruits, so it’s a
competitive field.
Amongst these, the
satsuma was a struggler
early on in the season.
For clementines and
mandarins, however, the
market was fine, and the
volumes fair.
Navel oranges, on
the other hand, faced
problems. “Volumes were
fairly high, Chadwick
noted, “and this was
especially a problem when
they overlapped with the
remainder of the northern
hemisphere season.
“A big positive factor,
however, was the rand
exchange rate being weak.
In competing countries,
like Argentine and
Australia, their currencies
strengthened against the
US dollar, and that gave
the weak rand added
advantage for exports.”
Pushed for a forecast
for the forthcoming
season, Chadwick said he
wouldn’t hazard a guess
this much before the start
of the season – which runs
from February through to
September.