According to the Observatory of Prices and Markets of the Junta de Andalucia's latest report on the citrus campaign, corresponding to weeks 23 and 24, this year's orange campaign was really bad and has come to an end due to the shortage of operations.
"The accumulated delay in the collection of citrus fruits from one variety to another, combined with a low demand and a decrease in market prices, means that there still are oranges that have not been harvested in the field, with the consequent danger of loss in quality and the increase in costs due to the need to apply treatments against fruit flies," the report states. "Producers prefer to leave the fruit in the tree instead of storing it in chambers because of the high energy prices. In this sense, it is necessary to take into account that the fruit could lose its color or mature too much if its harvest is delayed much," it adds.
The report highlights that demand for citrus continues to slow down in the European market and its average prices have continued to decline in recent weeks. In addition, "demand remains at low levels, and the few commercial operations that are carried out mainly take place in the national market, among other reasons, because of the risk that the fruit is returned given its maturity."
The average price of oranges at source is 11 cents per kilo and lemon prices have decreased from 50 cents per kilo in week 22 to 41 cents. Compared to the average of the last 5 campaigns, in week 24 the price of oranges at source has fallen by 69.9% and that of lemon by 14.5%.
In the processing plants, the price of oranges at the source has decreased by 34.4% (to 0.41 euro/kilo) in week 24 compared to the average of 2016-2021 and that of lemon by 14.9% (its price is set at 0.73 euro/kilo).
Source: sevilla.abc.es