SA waits to see if stable demand for citrus will hold

The South African citrus season started quite well. “Whether this will hold up throughout the rest of the season will become apparent when larger volumes of Valencia’s, among others, come onto the market,” says Joep van Lierop of De Groot International.

When asked whether the cool weather has stimulated the citrus sales so far, the importer replies: “The cooler weather certainly doesn’t have a negative effect on the sales of citrus, but it isn’t the only cause of the good start to the citrus season. The true cause is a combination of demand and supply. Due to the bad weather conditions at the end of 2015 in South Africa large amount of citrus were lost. In grapefruit, for example, this lead to considerably lower export amounts compared to previous years and strong sales prices.

“The sales prices for the South African lemons are good this season. Whether this will remain this way, strongly depends on the volumes that will be sent from South Africa and Argentina in the coming period. The large volumes of lemons from South Africa are still lacking. This is partially due to the CBS measures which cause exporters to take less risk and export to other areas besides Europe,” concludes Joep.

Source: FreshPlaza