South African citrus

South Africa’s final citrus export figures for 2020 have not yet been finalised, but it is now very likely that total shipments will be around 146m cartons.

This will be some 3m cartons more than the original estimate, and well up from the 2019 volume of 127.5m cartons.

The figures reported by the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) originates from the inspection organisation PPECB and the statistics provided by Agrihub, which represent the volumes shipped from the country.

The latest information provided by CGA to growers indicated that the final volume could be 146m cartons.

“In 2020 there were some concerns around the accuracy of the data – as a result the decision was taken to delay final season figures until there was more confidence in the figures,” the CGA said. “Although there are still some concerns, a decision was taken to present what we believe are the best available statistics for the 2020 season.”

Although the latest figures indicate that 146m cartons had been packed, the shipped volumes show 141.1 m cartons.

These latest figure now indictate that grapefruit volumes declined by 1m cartons from the original estimate of 16.7m cartons to 15.5m cartons.

Soft citrus increased from last year’s shipments of 17.5m cartons to 23.7m cartons, while lemons are likely to end at 28.4m cartons compared with last year’s 19.7m cartons.

Navels volumes are set to come in at 26m cartons, well up on last year’s 22.8m cartons. Valencia oranges are expected to conclude at 52.4m cartons compared with last year’s 45.3m cartons.