A good citrus crop out of the US this season should find a receptive market in Japan as short domestic supply and a strong yen invigorate the market there.
According to a recent report by the USDA, Japan’s tangerine and mandarin crops this year have fallen by 11 per cent since last season to 968,000 tonnes.
Imports of the fruit are predicted to increase by 12 per cent, however, with the US poised to be the main benefactor as it provides the majority of Japan’s imported tangerines.
Last year it shipped 9,128 tonnes of the fruit, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous year. The imports were valued at US$12m, according to the USDA report.
Australia, the second largest supplier of tangerines to Japan, saw exports fall by approximately 30 percent on the back of increased fruit prices, due largely to a soaring Australian dollar.
Imports of grapefruit from the US have also increased, bucking a downward trend in the industry that has seen total imports slide by seven per cent since last year to 167,783 tonnes.
The report credits the strong yen relative to the greenback for stimulating trade. The current exchange rate is 82 yen to the dollar, compared to 88 yen to the dollar one year ago. The report anticipates the coming season will see the total volume of grapefruit exported to Japan tipping the scales at 175,000 tonnes.
According to the report the US grapefruit industry has also benefitted from a crop of slightly smaller fruit, which is of a high quality with good flavour.
The crop of navel oranges out of the US is also exhibiting a smaller size profile but traders have reported a bumper crop of excellent quality.
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