The citrus campaign in the northern hemisphere is almost complete, while the southern hemisphere's output is just starting to take shape. For now, lemons are the fastest selling products, and we will have to wait until the market runs out of old stocks for orange sales to rebound. This is what they say at TC Fruits, one of the Spanish companies that has been growing the most in the distribution of overseas products in recent years.
Luis Romero, manager of the International Department at TC Fruits.
"There is some uncertainty ahead for this year's citrus fruits from the southern hemisphere. The start of the campaign is being marked by the oversupply of old fruit that is still in the market, mainly from Egypt and Morocco, although we expect these stocks to be cleared out in the coming weeks, and orange and grapefruit prices should then rise," explains Luis Romero, head of the International Sales Department at TC Fruits. "Lemons are the most demanded citrus fruit at the moment, since Spain has finished the campaign earlier due to a smaller supply this year," he adds.
As for the citrus fruits from South Africa, the importer says that "the production of Navel oranges has recovered after the bad harvest of 2017. Meanwhile, that of Valencia oranges will be similar to the one of previous years, although with smaller calibres. For grapefruit, we expect a small increase in the total volume and also smaller calibres, while the total lemon volume should increase, especially due to the entry into production of new plantations."
Regarding the citrus fruits from South America, Uruguay and Argentina have been affected by weather issues in recent weeks. Brazil, being one of the world's leading orange producers, forecasts a 27% drop due to the high temperatures at the end of the year. In spite of this, Luis Romero points out that "at TC Fruits, we anticipated this and arranged programs with our associated producers to be able to meet our customers' demands as scheduled."
In recent years, the Spanish company has significantly increased the volumes marketed overseas. "We have achieved this by becoming an indispensable partner for producers and exporters in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Zimbabwe, South Africa, etc. And in turn, providing a service, quality, and good prices to our customers," says the importer.
"What makes us stand out from our competitors is our aggressiveness and competitiveness, creating a direct line from the field to the customer thanks to our producers and overseas offices," concludes Luís Romero.
For more information:
Luis Romero
TC Fruits
Manager of International DepartmentT: +34 902 006 975
M: +34 692 171 468
www.tcfruits.com