Small sizes for Pakistani kinnow mandarins

The current season for Pakistani kinnow mandarins is in full swing. Due to excellent weather circumstances, export volumes have increased by 15%. However, sizes are relatively small, which prompts many Pakistani exporters to send their produce to Russia.

“The quality of the fruit is great. Russia is a great market for smaller sized fruit, as is the domestic market of Pakistan,” says Shoaib Ahmad of the National Fruit Processing Factory. According to Ahmad, the past year saw the export of 74 containers to the Ukraine, as well as over 1,100 containers to Russia. 

“We’ve been exporting kinnow mandarins to the Middle East. The markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain offers high prices. We’ve also exported about 350 containers to Indonesia and about 340 containers to the Philippines. There currently aren’t that many Chinese mandarins in the Asian markets, which is good for Pakistani mandarins. We’ve also seen good demand for our kinnow mandarins in Iraq and Kuwait, as the Turkish mandarins of the current season aren’t that good with regards to quality.” 

The peak season for kinnow mandarins in Pakistan lasts from the 20th of December up to the 15th of February. The export winds down after the 10th of February, as Egyptian murcott mandarins enter the market. Though competition with Egyptian citrus puts pressure on prices in markets in Eastern Europe, there isn’t any competition in Far Eastern markets like Hong Kong or Indonesia.

According to Ahmad, one major problem the Pakistani mandarin sector had to deal with was the protests of farmers against the sugar cane industry. “The protesters blocked off roads, which caused a lot of missed shipments in the last week of December. However, logistics have returned to normal. Everything is OK now,” says Ahmad in conclusion.