Imports up 34 per cent in value between January and July, despite volume remaining virtually unchanged
The value of citrus imports into the European Union increased by 34 per cent between January and July of 2025. According to data from Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mapa), the average per-tonne price was €1,009, compared to €751 in the year-earlier period.
As reported in Valencia Plaza, between January and July the EU imported 1.11mn tonnes, 1.5 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year.
By origin, South Africa reinforces its leading position as the main non-EU supplier with 335,000 tonnes exported (41.5 per cent more than in 2024) worth €393mn, representing a value increase of more than 80 per cent compared to the same period in 2024.
Egypt was second, with 377,000 tonnes (down 29.4 per cent after the exceptionally high levels shipped during the previous season. Although Egypt is Europe’s top non-EU supplier in volume between January and July, the value of its shipments is lower than that of South Africa, at €247mn, a result of the low-price policy implemented by this North African country.
Meanwhile, Morocco rebounded strongly, shipping 113,000 tonnes, while Argentina and Peru are registered the largest relative increases of close to 200 per cent and 140 per cent respectively.
Overall, through to July, Southern Hemisphere countries accounted for 410,000 tonnes of shipments, a 50 per cent year-on-year increase. In value terms, their share now reaches 43 per cent of total European imports, compared to a much more moderate growth in the Northern Hemisphere (11 per cent).
“This trend consolidates the Southern Hemisphere – led by South Africa, Argentina, Peru, and Morocco – as a strategic supplier to the EU during the off-season,” Valencia Plaza said.
The Secretary General of the Unió Llauradora i Ramadera (Farmers and Livestock Farmers’ Union), Carles Peris, said the increase in the value of imports was mostly due to a production deficit in Europe, especially in Spain, caused by adverse weather conditions and a decline in yields in recent seasons.
“When prices at the destination rise, it’s generally due to a supply deficit,” he noted.
However, Peris warned that the price on non-EU imported citrus was “still below the prices at which Valencian and Spanish producers can sell, since these third countries produce at much lower costs”.
He said this continued to hurt Spanish producers noting that “South Africa is increasingly competing directly with Spain, while Egypt has even resorted on occasion to rock-bottom pricing strategies that distort the EU market”.
By variety, lemon imports grew 36.8 per cent to 240,000 tonnes, while mandarins and clementines grew 26.2 per cent and orange and grapefruit imports fell by 17.5 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively.
By country, imports of mandarins and clementines from South Africa increased by more than 24 per cent to 180,140 tonnes, while Morocco showed the most significant growth, almost doubling its shipments to 94,834 tonnes.
