The lemon harvest season in China has just started. The local lemon market is not ideal, as the new crop faces the competition from last year’s stock and supply from overseas. Prices have reached the lowest point in a decade.
"The FOB prices of Eurekas over the past few days were 1.5-1.6 yuan/kg, compared with about 3 yuan/kg in the same period last year. Low prices are in part a result of large volumes of unsold stock from last year’s bumper harvest. Moreover, lemons from countries such as Turkey and Argentina have also entered the international market, which has put pressure on the price of local products. Due to low prices, so far our export volume has been larger than the same period last year,” A domestic lemon grower said.
“A few years ago, importers in Southeast Asian countries would always prefer fruit from countries such as Turkey and Argentina, but with the improved level of professionalism in Chinese lemon companies, the expansion of sales channels, and the improvement of product quality, these overseas customers began to import lemons from China. In order to seize market opportunities and increase their competitive edge, many exporters have started to make export plans for overseas customers before starting the harvest season, and strive to move the shipment period forward from between January and February to between October and December this year."