Re-exporting oranges: Is Spain taking over the role of the Netherlands?

The export of oranges from Spain in the 2022-2023 season, compared to the figures of the previous season (Fig. 1), is clearly lower, especially from the end of December onwards. This is partly due to a significant drop in production according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture (Fig. 2). At the same time, a very significant increase in imports took place, between January and May 2023 (Table 1), and it is already known that in June of this year more than 15,000 tons have been imported from Egypt and during the first three weeks of July about 10,000 tons. According to consultant Francisco Borrás, these imports have been used both for the Spanish domestic market and to meet export commitments to customers outside Spain. So mr. Borrás deduces that Spanish marketers seem to have taken over the re-export activity usually led by the Netherlands. Spanish citrus traders that until now basically operated with citrus from the southern hemisphere, when Spanish cold stores were empty, ...