The EU imported 723,984 tons of oranges from third countries between September 2022 and May 2023, i.e. 31.6% or 173,700 tons more than in the same period of the 2021/22 campaign and 16.5% (102,400 tons) more than the average, according to the data from the latest Enhanced Monitoring on EU Citrus Imports report published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food.
The main supplier is Egypt (48.4% of the total), which increased its share by 12 points. The volume coming from this country exceeded those of the 2021/22 campaign by 97%, and the average by 56.8% (+126,800 t).
Click on the image to enlarge it.
It was followed by South Africa with a 39.5% share, a 13.0% increase in volume over the previous campaign, a 19.4% increase (+46,400 t) over the average, and a one point increase in its share.
Meanwhile, Morocco's supply decreased by 51.5% over last season and by 75.2% over the average of the last 5 years (-28,500 t).
In the first five months of 2023, the EU-27 imported 366,198 tons, 70.8% (+151,700 tons) more than in the 2022 period and 30.3% (+85,100 tons) more than the average.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
The increase in imports from Egypt was outstanding. The country recovered its production volume, with a 97% increase compared to the same period in 2022 (+171,200 t) and a 57.3% (+126,600 t) increase over the average, which allowed it to supply 94.9% (347,576 tons) of all EU oranges imported from third countries in this period.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
By contrast, Morocco reduced its quantities by 81.9% over the first 5 months of 2022 (-13,100 tons) and by 89.4% (-24,200 tons) over the average; achieving only an 0.8% share with only 2,886 tons.
In these first 5 months of 2023, the highest volumes have been recorded since March, when orange imports into the EU exceeded 90,000 tons per month. In May specifically, they exceeded 102,500 tons, increasing by 108.7% compared to May 2022.
You can check out the full report, which includes information regarding imports of all citrus fruits, here.