According to the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, citrusproduction for MY 2013/2014 increased by 47 percent over MY 2012/2013,registering a record of 2.2 million metric tonnes (MT) on a planted area of about 118,900hectares (HA) and a productive area of 92,000 HA with an average yield of 24MT per hectare. The planted area increased by 6,200 Ha compared to lastyear.
Official Moroccan estimates for MY2013/2014 total citrusproduction were revised up in September 2013 from 2.025 million MT to 2.20million MT with the final official numbers to be published during the summer.Small citrus production was estimated at 1.160 million MT, fresh orangeproduction was estimated at 1 million MT, and lemon and lime was estimated at42,400 MT. This is 47 percent higher than the previous season and 37 percenthigher than the average production for the last six years.
Consumption
MY 2013/2014 has noticed an overall increase in terms ofdomestic consumption due to the excellent production. Morocco’s consumption fororanges for MY2013/14 will reach 847,000 MT with a per capita annualconsumption estimated at 19 kg for oranges, 11kg for small citrus, and 1.3 kgof lemon/limes.
In MY 2012/2013, Morocco’s domestic consumption of smallcitrus was estimated at 355,000 MT and the consumption for oranges wasestimated at 661,000 MT, while the consumption for lemon/limes was estimated at43,000 MT. Morocco’s orange juice consumption is currently estimated at about50 million litres, of which 20 million litres comes from local processing offresh citrus and the rest is imported juice and concentrates.
Trade
According to Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, from October2013 to mid-May 2014, total citrus exports reached about 557,000 MT, about 10percent higher than the quantity exported during the same period of MY2012/2013. As of May 2014, Ministry statistics shows that small citrus exportstotalled 479,670 MT, about 36 percent increase compared to exports during thesame period in MY 2012/2013 while orange exports totalled 73,600 MT. Exports ofother citrus, mainly lemons, are projected to reach 10,494 MT for MY 2013/2014,almost a triple exportation compared to the previous year.
The total exported citrus volume is forecast to reach560,000 MT by end of May 2014 and about 573,000 MT by end of the season.
It should be noted that in February 2012, Morocco and theEuropean Union concluded long negotiations of a free trade agreement (FTA) thatwent into effect August 30, 2012. The new agreement will increase Morocco’ssmall citrus fruit export quota by 22 percent, from 143,700 MT to 175,000 MT.However, this quota increase is not expected to have a significant impact onMorocco’s overall citrus exports to the EU, since Moroccan citrus quotas haveremained partially underutilized in previous years.