Asian Citrus holdings

The winter citrus crop yield for China-based Asian citrus was nearly identical to the company’s November estimate, down on the previous year, StockMarketWire reports.

Production from the company’s two operational plantations in Xinfeng and Hepu combined was 147,927 tonnes, just 227 tonnes off their original 149,700 tonne projection given in a statement on 27 November.

Yields from the plantation in Xinfeng totalled 123,228 tonnes, down 4 per cent on the previous year’s 128,395 tonnes.

This reduction was attributed to stormy weather with heavy rainfall between April and August 2013.

The yield from Hepu was down at 24,699 tonnes compared to last year’s 32,838 tonnes, down slightly more than the anticipated 20 per cent reduction.

This drop had been expected due to the replacement of 48,058 winter orange trees with around 220,000 banana trees under the province’s 2013 replanting programme.