Sai World is just a week to ten days away from the start of the citrus harvest. The company grows citrus in the Riverland area of South Australia.
"The fruit is colouring up nicely and we will be about a week early with the first picking," said Sam Vasala from Sai World. "We will start with the Navelinas, then go on to the Washington Navels. We have already picked some M7's, that was just a small picking for the domestic market."
Sam reckons the Chinese markets should be strong this year. "Due to the tariffs from the U.S. there is much less citrus there. There is still a lot of Chinese fruit in South East Asia, but in about a month's time it should be better. Korea and Japan may both be tough due to the volumes of U.S. fruit being imported.
"It is an odd season, we are a bit early, but I'm sure the markets will pick up as we go into June. Everyone is keen to have the Washington Navels"
Sai World has expanded the packing facility to allow them to pack bigger volumes, they also have a new orchard this season which will bring the volumes up.