Thanks to good weather in citrus-growing regions, citrus production for the 2013-2014 season in the EU is forecast to be larger last season's.With an increase of nine percent over last season, 2013-2014 citrus production is expected to reach 11 MMT, according to a report from the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.EU orange production is expected to increase by 12 percent, up to 6.6 MMT, thanks to a 15 percent increase in Spanish production. Spain's citrus growers are responsible for half of the EU's orange production, and favorable weather conditions there contributed to a favorable forecast for the 2013-2014 season. High temperatures and dry conditions, however, have made for smaller orange sizes, which have resulted in prices lower than last season's prices.
Lemon production for the continent are forecast at 1.34 MMT, up 15 percent from last year's crop. That's partly thanks to increased Italian production, which is expected to shoot up by 31 percent from last season's lemon crop thanks to very good weather.
Likewise, EU grapefruit production is expected to increase by nine percent to 121,000 MT. That's been helped along by increased production from Cyprus, which is expecting a grapefruit crop 17 percent larger than last season's.