The president of Juguera de Akil, Luis Cetina Garcia, stated the company had started buying sweet orange and grapefruit in October to process the juice concentrate that is exported to Germany.
He also said that the price of a ton of sweet orange would stand at 1,500 pesos for the next few days and that the mandarin harvest would be arriving soon, as there had been a delay in production.
Cetina Garcia said that the Juguera de Akil intended to buy 8 thousand tons of citrus fruit (mandarin, orange and grapefruit) between October 2017 and March 2018.
He also said that between June and September this year the plant at Akil had processed 4 thousand tons of Persian lime and that, since there was going to be a new crop of citric in November, there would be enough supply of the product in the local market, which in turn would lower prices.
He said that, unlike 5 years ago when the state produced 300 thousand to 400 thousand tons of citrus, this year the state would produce 150 thousand to 200 thousand tons of this product. This decrease in product is due to weather conditions, he added.
However, he emphasized that there would be enough product to supply the local market's demand and for the operation of the plant at Akil.
Finally, he said that the purchase of more than 8 thousand tons of citrus, the generation of 70 jobs in the Juguera de Akil, paying electric bill and drinking water would cost the company 25 million pesos; an amount they would cover with the export of citrus fruits concentrates to the European market and the United States.
Source: yucatanalamano.com