Global lemon market overview

South Africa and Argentina, the main lemon producing countries in the southern hemisphere at this time of year, are experiencing lower supplies. This is mainly due to adverse weather conditions, with a lot of rain and wind affecting the crops. With the South African lemon season almost over, the crop estimate has been revised downwards again. Some 37.9 million 15kg boxes of lemons were expected, but the figure has been reduced to 33.9 million boxes, compared to 35.6 million last year. The Sundays River Valley has seen a drop of almost one million boxes due to strong winds, while the town of Citrusdal in the Western Cape has produced 100,000 fewer boxes due to flooding. The Argentine lemon season was affected by rain and a major impact of disease and plant health problems, which meant that not much fruit was shipped to Europe. Fruit was packed at a much slower pace and with much effort to ensure that it arrived in good condition in the US, its main market. A 15-20% drop in lemon ...