Will the Spanish citrus sector take advantage of the US-China conflict?

The current economic conflict between the United States and China could result in great opportunities for Spanish citrus. On 2 April, China introduced tariffs that will make more than 120 products imported from the United States, including California citrus, between 15 and 20% more expensive.

This has motivated EUROFRESHPRODUCE, an initiative for the promotion of horticultural products, to organise an express visit in partnership with "Cítricos de España". The idea is to promote Spanish citrus fruits in various wholesale markets of important Chinese cities, such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shandong and Shanghai.

"We now have a good opportunity and I believe we are forced to take advantage of it. The Spanish citrus sector has been facing declining prices in Europe for years. Moreover, there is increasing competition from other origins, such as Egypt or South Africa, which is gradually extending its campaign and increasing its exports to the European market. This is why I believe that market diversification is becoming increasingly necessary," says Oliver Huesmann, representative of EUROFRESHPRODUCE.

"There is great uncertainty on the part of Chinese importers due to the price rises affecting US products and they are open to other options. Spain could offer not only a cheaper, high quality product, but also higher levels of food safety than the US production," he added.

For now, the citrus fruit that would benefit the most would be oranges, as Spanish oranges are building a good reputation in the Chinese market. In fact, exports to this country have doubled compared to last year. As for lemons, despite there also being an export protocol, the cold treatments are very aggressive, and this, combined with the logistical challenges, makes their shipment more difficult. In fact, from September to March, only 4 million kilos have been shipped, which is 32% less than in the same period last year. However, according to Oliver Huesmann, lemon exports could increase following a good professionalization of the sector.

What this means is that "we cannot handle, pack or transport the citrus fruits in the same way as we would when shipping to Europe. For this reason, the program of this visit to China will include a talk with the Councillor of the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in China and a presentation of the Chinese market.