Demand, Availability and Selling Price of South African Lemons in the UAE

Due to heavy rains in the northern part of South Africa in W8-W9, the packing and loading process for South African lemon was inconsistent and slow, creating shortages in the market and a hike in the sales prices of lemon in the MENA region. Although low lemon volumes were shipped to Gulf countries compared to the same period in 2022 and 2021, the market is performing much better than in 2022 due to the quality of lemons being generally good overall compared to last season.

Almost all the importers have gained a good profit margin, and some hold their stocks to be sold in the holy month of Ramadan due to higher demand during that period. However, more lemons are expected to be available in the UAE market in W17-W18, which could create an imbalance in supply and demand and lead to lower selling prices in the coming days.