"On the one hand this is good for the market, as a low supply will keep prices strong," explains Cobus van Graan from FruitOne. "But it also means that lemon supply from the earlier production regions will coincide with the early supply window from the Eastern Cape, South Africa's biggest lemon producing area."
The past few years have seen unprecedented growth in lemon plantings in South Africa; global consumption increased, supply was short and prices rose to unprecedented levels. This situation has now however normalised and pricing has definitely pulled back.
According to Cobus its not a drop in demand but rather an over-supplied market which has caused the prices to fall. "There has been a dramatic increase in supply due to lots of new plantings. Argentina is back to full strength and it seems that when Argentina sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold! But really it is just a righting of the market.
"If you go back 6-7 years and look at the prices then, before it went a bit crazy, we are back to around same the prices. So I think producers will just have to get used to this as the “new normal”."
Lemon sizes are smaller, certainly in Limpopo, this season, but there is more fruit which is predominately from new plantings coming into production in the north, according to Cobus.
Predominantly Spanish, and some Turkish lemons, are still available in the European market so there is no real incentive to ship early-season lemons from South African there at the moment. "We are shipping limited volumes to Russia at the moment due to smaller sizing so hopefully the market will maintain momentum for longer. But fruit is predominately going to the Middle East and SE Asia as this offers more value to growers this early in the season."
The main supply from South Africa will kick in soon and by then Spain will be out of the market. Lemons will go to Europe, the UK and Canada.
Grapefruit
Grapefruit quality is looking good but also smaller in sizing because although a lot of rain has now fallen, it was very dry earlier in the growing season. "We have now started picking and fruit is peaking on count 45 which is a good size. Since we only started harvesting, it is possible that sizing may increase due to recent rains but we will have to wait and see while we pick."
"In general the lemon and grapefruit seasons are delayed by 2-3 weeks and at this stage we are very satisfied with the quality and volume indications from the Limpopo region. Our first Tango mandarins will also be harvested in 5 weeks and we are looking forward to this new addition to our citrus basket"
For more information:
Cobus van Graan
FruitOne South Africa
Email: cobus@fruitone.com
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 640 5722
Office: +27 (0) 21 8833447