Exporters continue working with their stocks of Primofiori lemons given the extremely high prices at origin of the Verna. "The Verna is so expensive that we don't know how the market will react to such a high price," explains Juanjo Cárcel, export commercial director at Frutas Juanito. "We expect to start with the Verna in late April, just like most of the sector's traders, but things will be difficult."
Meanwhile, Argentina is expected to ship larger volumes of lemons to Europe, taking advantage of the lack of Spanish produce and of the fact that prices are so high, taking also into account that the devaluation of the peso will have a positive impact on exports.
For now, the lemon campaign has been good, according to the exporter, although he assures that this is due to specific factors, such as the lower production. "For the next campaign, however, we expect a recovery of the production volumes and more stable prices."
As regards oranges, "we are shipping oranges to destinations such as Canada, the Middle East and Malaysia, with Brix levels of between 13 and 16 degrees. Spanish oranges are highly appreciated in these markets. Egypt competes strongly in terms of prices, but their campaign is now coming to an end."
Grapefruit is also gaining an increasingly important role for the company. "Lemons remain our strongest product, although we have also devoted our resources to grapefruit for about four years in order to expand the services we offer to our customers, as it is a product that is yielding good results and is interesting especially for export, both in Europe and overseas."
"This year we have reached more markets than ever"
Based in the municipality of Beniel, Murcia, Frutas Juanito is a family business that has been producing and selling citrus fruits for almost fifty years. It has its own production and has partnerships with other producers and sells about 10 million kilos of lemons, 2 million kilos of oranges and about 3 million kilos of grapefruit under the Juanito, Josefina, El Pierres and Cárcel Hermanos brands, among others.
Juanjo Cárcel states: "This campaign we have exported a large volume of citrus and we have reached new markets and ones further afield. Besides the usual destinations in Europe, we have also exported to Canada, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, among others."
"Our goal is to keep our life-long customers and gradually increase the volumes distributed. We have a very interesting future ahead and we'll continue to show a strong commitment in shipping our products to Asian markets, like Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc.," points out Juanjo Cárcel.
More information:
Juano Cárcel (Export commercial director)
Frutas Juanito, S.L.
Camino Vereda de la Basca, 24.
30130 Beniel, Murcia. Spain
T: +34 615 159 640
info@frutasjuanito.es
www.frutasjuanito.es