The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture recently reported that the EU imported a total of 2,149,041 tons of citrus fruits in 2023.
To better grasp the magnitude of this figure, if we used cubes with sides measuring 1 meter, which could contain about one thousand liters, filled them with one thousand kilos of citrus fruits each (one ton), and lined up all the cubes filled with the citrus imported in 2023, that line would connect, for example, Seville and Rotterdam.
This represents a 16.5% increase compared to the volume imported in 2022 (+305,100 tons) and a 9.6% increase over the average of the previous five years (+189,000 tons), and is setting a new record. This has coincided with "the two lowest productive campaigns of the last ten years in Spain, with decreases compared to the average of 14.5% and 15.2%, respectively," says the Ministry.
Oranges accounted for 43.6% of the total imported, with purchases increasing by 32.6% (+244,600 tons) compared to 2022, and by 13.4% (+117,800 tons) compared to the average.
2023/24 campaign
So far in the current 2023/24 campaign (September 2023-February 2024), 421,574 tons of oranges have been imported, which represents a 4.2% drop (-18,700 tons) compared to the same period of the 2022/23 campaign and a 1.9% increase (+7,900 tons) over the average.
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The main supplier during these months has continued to be South Africa, with a 53.2% share, although its supplies have been reduced by 21.4% (-60,900 tons) compared to the previous campaign and by 10.6% (-26,600 tons) compared to the average.
Next in the ranking is Egypt, which, despite having started shipping in December, already accounts for 27.4% of the total, growing by 55.5% (+41,200 tons) compared to the same period of the previous campaign, and by 120.9% (+63,100 tons) compared to the average.
The first months of 2024
While the volume of imported oranges decreased in the first two months of the campaign, "it has been significantly higher than average in the following four months, with imports from Egypt standing out once again," says the report.
According to preliminary data from TAXUD for January and February, in 2024, the EU-27 has imported 120,984 tons, which represents a 46.4% increase (+38,400 tons) compared to the first two months of 2023 and a 75.6% increase (+52,100 tons) over the average.
This increase is mainly due to a rise in imports from Egypt for the second consecutive year, with an increase of 55.9% (+40,000 tons) compared to last year and of 124.8% (+61,900 tons) compared to the average.
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With 111,557 tons, Egypt was the origin of 92.2% of the oranges imported by the EU in these two months. This share goes up to 95.7% if we look just at the data for February, when 62,726 tons were sold to the EU market.