In 2022, Chile had its worst citrus export campaign in five years. It experienced a 32% drop in shipments and only exported 268,583 tons of citrus.
According to data from iQonsulting and Inform@cción, the United States was the main destination for Chile's citrus as it received 87% of the total exported; 233,000 tons, 41,000 tons of which corresponded to clementines, 86,000 tons to mandarins, 73,000 tons to oranges, and 31,000 tons to lemons. However, exports to the US market decreased by 32% compared to 2021 and 24% compared to the 2020 season.
The US was followed by the Far East market, with an 8% share of all exports in 2022, and Latin America, which doubled its share to 4%. Europe's share went from 3% in 2021 to just 1% of the total.
Lemons led the drop in shipments with a 44% decrease in the volume exported, which stood at 56,234 tons. According to data from the Central Bank of Chile, in 2022 the lemon business had an income of 62 million dollars.
The country's lemon exports were led by the Genova variety, with a total of 36,225 tons and a 64% share. Despite being the most important export variety, exports of the Genova variety have decreased. Meanwhile, exports of the Eureka variety have increased from a 14% share to a 25% share during 2022. Chile exported 14,083 tons of the Eureka variety in the previous campaign.
The easy peelers citrus group achieved an income of 166 million dollars in 2022; however, exports fell from 193,272 tons in 2021 to 131,073 tons in 2022.
It should be noted that shipments to the European market decreased by 88%, as the country only exported 498 tons to that region. A total of 52 tons were exported to the Far East, which means there was a 93% decrease in volume over the previous year.
Finally, exports of Chilean oranges decreased to 81,276 tons, registering the lowest value since 2017.
Exports were led by the Fukumoto variety with 29,723 tons, accounting for 37% of all shipments. It was followed by the Lane Late variety with 20,672 tons and a 25% share.
Source: redagricola.com