South Africa Exported 1.8 Million Fewer Cartons of Grapefruit in the 2023 Season

In the 2023 season, South Africa packed 13 million grapefruit cartons, a decrease of 1.8 million cartons compared to the 14.8 million packed in 2022. The decrease is primarily due to marketing constraints for processing, resulting in a significant drop in processed grapefruit. Southern African grapefruit exports to the EU increased, with 5.8 million cartons in 2023 compared to 4.9 million in 2022, accounting for 47% of total grapefruit exports. China received 1.7 million cartons or 14% of the total grapefruit shipped. Russia received 10% of grapefruit shipments, increasing from 1.1 million cartons in 2022 to 1.2 million cartons in 2023. However, Asian shipments decreased from 1.8 million cartons in 2022 to 1.3 million cartons in 2023. The USA and the UK each received 4% of grapefruit shipments, with the USA increasing from 370 thousand to 553 thousand cartons, while the UK remained stable at 551,000 cartons.