Inclement weather in recent weeks is expected to further reduce volumes
Spanish citrus growers are reporting brisk sales as the campaign enters its second half, with demand for oranges and mandarins outpacing supply and pushing up farm gate prices thanks to this season’s shorter crop.
However, heavy rains and strong winds have made for challenging conditions in recent weeks. Nacho Juarez, citrus manager at Anecoop, described the current situation as “somewhat paradoxical”.
The wet conditions have accelerated the internal ripening of the fruit and could shorten its storage potential, forcing an earlier end to shipments.
“Farm prices are high, but now there’s a rush to load fruit that’s ripe or has been damaged by the recent bad weather,” Juarez told Fruitnet. “The rains and winds of the last 12 days have resulted in serious production problems and we’ll need to monitor how this affects the condition of the fruit.”
Nevertheless, he noted that “from a commercial viewpoint, we should stay relatively calm because of the rapid succession of varieties and the rather shorter harvest forecast”.
With Spain facing its shortest harvest in 16 years and other Mediterranean suppliers like Turkey and Morocco also facing lighter crops, hopes at the outset of the season were that the market would be much more balanced than in previous years.
In Andalusia, the regional government predicted that production would be down 13 per cent in 2025/26. However, Eduardo Eraso of farmer association Asaja told ABC that losses could exceed 30 per cent due to the low rainfall at the start of the harvest in October and the storms in January.
Regarding the overall prospects for the season, Juarez said: “It’s impossible to make a definitive assessment now, but the season has become much more complicated”.
