The start of the Chilean orange export season is starting in just a few days with the first shipments, with a slight delay of just one week compared to last year. "In general terms, this will be a difficult season for all citrus fruits," said Monserrat Valenzuela, manager of the Chilean Citrus Committee. "There is the issue of freight, which is much more expensive, and all the logistics-related problems. Moreover, the world has not yet fully recovered from COVID and its consequences. However, this season there is a greater availability of labor, which will facilitate the harvests, as well as the packing."
"In the specific case of oranges, this year there will be less fruit than last season, approximately 13% less, and we expect to reach 90,000 tons of exports. The fruit is looking very good, with good sizes and Brix degrees in line with what's expected for this period."
"The main destination market for Chilean oranges is the United States. Europe offers some very specific windows for Chile, and Asia, for now, is not yet such a strong market for our oranges. For Chile, China is still a very new market, opened only a couple of seasons ago, and this year we have been focusing our promotional efforts there on lemons. At a later time, when the logistical issues are solved, we do not rule out including oranges in the promotions," said Monserrat.
"The North American market is also traditionally supplied from the southern hemisphere with oranges from South Africa and Australia, although this origin is much stronger in Southeast Asia and China, due to proximity. It is still too early to predict how the season will go and what the level of consumer demand will be. In recent years, COVID has given a great boost to the demand for citrus due to its vitamin C content, but we do not know how the demand will behave this year."
The citrus industry in Chile has grown considerably in recent years, as shown by statistics from the Citrus Committee, with significant increases in the volumes shipped to international markets.
In just 6 years, between 2015 and 2021, Chilean orange exports went from 66,611 tons to 103,161 tons, increasing by 54.9%. In the same period, clementine shipments increased by 136%, while mandarin exports grew by 164%.
These figures boosted total citrus exports by 93.12%, from the 205,852 tons recorded by the Citrus Committee in 2015 to 397,569 tons last year.
"The easy peelers have rebounded strongly in recent years worldwide. These have very important advantages: their flavor, their vitamin C content, their size and how easy they are to peel, which makes them an easy snack to consume."
"Nevertheless, oranges have stood their ground and Chile currently has some 6,300 hectares planted with orange trees, distributed between the IV and VI regions. Our export varieties are of the Navel type, although we also grow the Cara Cara, a very successful pink-fleshed variety, of which there are some 500 hectares in the country," said Monserrat.
For more information:
ComitĂ© de CĂtricos de Chile
Cruz del Sur 133, of. 703
Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
www.comitedecitricos.cl