"The Egyptian orange season is going very well at the moment," says Joey Deen of Denimpex. "After the Navels, for which we received reasonable prices, we're now busy with the Valencias. For the Valencias, things started out a bit rough, but now we're seeing people starting to switch to Egypt. That's because the Greek season is over, and the quality in Spain is declining because of rainfall."
Good prices, bigger sizes
He notes that the availability in the bigger sizes (48/56/64) is somewhat limited. "Good prices are made for those as well now. Of the mid-sizes (72/80/88), normal volumes are available. These are a bit cheaper as well, and sell for around 50 cents less than the bigger sizes. The smallest sizes (100/113) are available in abundance, and are sold at lower prices."
Favourable
Joey continues: "The Eastern European countries traditionally make the switch around Easter, going for the larger volumes. The Western European supermarkets generally try to continue with Spanish citrus." He says different qualities are circulating in the market. "Our oranges are well-received by all customers. They are sweet and full of juice. Because we have fresh arrivals every week and continue to sell, the oranges stay fresh as well. So we expect the season to remain favourable for exporters, importers and customers."
Limes also improving
"The lime market has also improved a bit, fortunately," Joey says. "The very limited availability of Mexican volumes results in a market with an almost exclusive availability of Brazilian produce. Since it's raining in Brazil as well, they cannot ship large volumes there either. Still, the export figures are roughly equal to the same period last year."
He says they had a difficult period at the cultivation company in Brazil, with disappointing harvests and inferior quality of the newly planted acreage. "Fortunately we're up and running again now, and we once again have weekly arrivals of our own brand, Delicio Frutas. The first container arrived two weeks ago, and the quality was good as ever. The limes have a beautiful dark green colour, they're firm and full of juice. Although the temperatures outside are not yet super, we're still seeing good demand for high quality limes. The market is expected to improve further in the time ahead, with prices increasing. Supply from Mexico and Brazil won't be sufficient to fulfil the European demand."
For more information:
Joey Deen
Denimpex B.V.
Sint Antoniesbreestraat 10
1011 HB Amsterdam – Holland
T: +31 20 6246390
F: +31 20 6225448
www.denimpex.nl