The exported volumes of Israeli citrus has dropped quite a bit this season, says Betsalel Ohana, export manager for Israeli citrus exporter Planet Israel: "It was a challenging citrus season, with the war in the Gaza strip at the background, and the influence of it on the lack of workers. That led to a strong reduction on the exported quantities of about 35% in season 2023/2024, a total of about 78 thousand tons. Compared to the same period last year, that season had a total of 120 thousand tons when you combine all the citrus, until week 14 of 2024. For the Orri mandarin, the reduction was even higher. About 38% less Orris were shipped until Week 14 of 2024, compared to last year. The quantities in the second largest exported product, Sunrise (Star Ruby) red grapefruit were reduced by about 21%. The lack of workers also led to a longer season, as the weekly shipments quantities were lower."
A natural side-effect of these lower volumes meant more demand, and thus, increased prices, Ohana explains. "These reduced quantities led to strong demand for every kg, and good prices to go with them. Moreover, as part of the influence of the war and tension in the region, the Israeli currency was weak and the NIS/US$ currency rate was high, which meant that the revenues in the Israeli currency were higher as well. So, despite the challenging situation, the season is coming to a good end."
Although the Egyptian citrus is making the market situation a bit weird, Ohana is certain that Israel isn't actually competing directly with the Egyptians: "The Egyptian citrus prices levels are much lower than the Israeli citrus prices. As far as we understand the markets, the Egyptian fruits are sold in different segments of the market, that are looking for cheaper products specifically. We believe that the Israeli citrus has an advantage in terms of quality and can meet higher class customers that can pay more for better quality. So the competition between the Israel products and the Egyptian products is not that direct."
Shipping grapefruits to the Asian market was made especially difficult due to the logistical problems surrounding the Red Sea. "The Red Sea crisis was influencing mainly the export of our grapefruits products, such as: Sunrise (Star Ruby) Red Grapefruits and Sweetie Green Grapefruits, as the main destinations for these fruits are in the Far East, such as Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. From Israel to Europe and to North America, the Logistics were not impacted as we did not have to send through the Suez canal or the Red Sea. All the main Shipping lines, such as: ZIM, Cosco, MSC, Maersk and others were working regularly. We will arrive at the end of the citrus season shortly, mainly with the Orri Mandarin, and if there are no significant changes, the results are expected to be the same," Ohana concludes.
For more information:
Betsalel Ohana
Planet Israel Farms
Tel: +972.54.738.3436
Email: PlanetIsraelFarms@gmail.com
www.planetisrael.farm