"Argentina: "Our citrus season went from doubts to success"

The Argentinian lemon season will come to end in the coming weeks with a very positive outcome for producers. The demand seems to have surprised both importers and exporters and resulted, to the very least, in a good campaign. "This year, the harvest started with many doubts, but over the weeks, the situation has surprisingly recovered. While in recent weeks shipments have declined, prices have continued to stay very stable in all markets, especially in Europe, where we have received record high prices for the 18 kilo boxes of lemons," affirms Diego Pérez, of Cauquen.

Also, while the international situation and global climate changes affected citrus trade from Argentina at the start, the consequences were more beneficial than initially anticipated. "While the Russian market was not as demanding as in other years, its stability surprised many. Moreover, according to our sources, the Turkish lemon harvest has been delayed this season, so we hope this will have a positive effect on our recent shipments," states the spokesperson.

The opening of new markets in recent years has also been one of the factors that has had a significant impact on the results achieved this campaign. "We are now making regular shipments to South East Asia, mainly of Murcott mandarins. While Indonesia is a market where we have already been working for several years, we are subject to a quota, which we wish to be expanded so that we can ship more fruit. We are in the negotiation process, because this is a very interesting market, the most demanding in South East Asia and with competition only from Australian and South African fruit, but our fruit has a better quality and more attractive prices," affirms Pérez.

"We must add that Argentina is in a process of recovery and we are starting to be perceived as a more stable supplier, with the national economy driving international investment. In turn, the current government is signing many agreements and carrying out negotiations for the opening of new markets, so we expect that in the coming years new markets will open for our fruit," concludes the representative.

Visit Cauquen at Asia Fruit Logistica: Hall 3B / J-01

For more information:
Diego Pérez
Cauquen
T: +54 9 11 32524721
E: diego@cauquen.com
www.cauquen.com