AILIMPO's initial lemon harvest estimate (forecast) for the next 2017/2018 campaign points toward a production figure in Spain of 1,080,000 tons, which is quite similar to the balance of the current campaign that will finish at the end of August with approximately 1,090,000 tons of lemons harvested.
Start of the Spanish lemon campaign
The campaign for Fino lemons will begin as usual during September and gather full steam for cutting and exporting in October. The water and weather conditions in the coming weeks will prove to be the key factors on which these data will depend in order to confirm this estimate.
Outlook
An overall lemon production figure in Spain exceeding one million tons will enable the sector to once again consolidate its export volume to EU markets in this coming campaign. Such a production will also suffice to satisfy the growing demand in the domestic market and relaunch exports to third countries outside the EU such as Canada, Brazil or the Middle Eastern countries, thus making progress in the diversification of markets initiated by the exporter market a few years ago.
Moreover, this production volume will afford normal lemon processing activity, for which Spain ranks second worldwide and has a key role in regulating the offer and market balance.
Some of the essential elements in the coming harvest season include the fulfilment of field logs, accreditation of GlobalGAP and GRASP certifications, and the use of standard contracts certified by the Ministry of Agriculture enabling compliance with the Spanish Law 12/2013 establishing measures to improve the functioning of the food supply chain.