EU Citrus Production and Imports Decline Amid New Regulations

EU citrus production is expected to be 5% down YoY in the 2022/23 campaign. According to the Citrus Semi-annual report by the USDA, lemons and oranges are experiencing more significant falls in producing other citrus fruits. Lemon production is expected at 1.5 million mt, down almost 9% from the 1.7 million mt of the previous season, and orange production is predicted to be approximately 6% down, standing at 6.1 million mt.

In Spain, which accounts for 65% of the EU’s citrus production, this season’s harvest is projected to be down by 15.6% to 5.9 million mt, mainly due to extreme weather conditions recorded this year. With long periods of no precipitation and sudden hail storms that were damaging to citrus crops, the new harvest will be the lowest in the last ten years and 12.8% below compared to the average of the previous five years. There hasn't been a campaign with fewer products since the 2012/13 campaign.

With less citrus production in the European block since the 2021/22 campaign, it was expected for non-European citrus imports to increase. However, according to the latest report of the Enhanced Monitoring of citrus imports by the EU, in the first half of 2022, the total imports of citrus in the EU have recorded a 7.4% YoY decline totaling 743 thousand mt, and 4.6% compared to the average of the previous five years.

In terms of citrus suppliers to the EU, all main countries have recorded sharp drops compared to last year. Egypt recorded a significant reduction of 29.6% compared to the previous season. In the case of South Africa, shipments fell by 66.3%, and Morocco's exports dropped by 59% compared to the yearly average. Although there was a drop in the shipments of the main supplying countries, Turkey (+36.9%) and Argentina (+36.4%) have recorded increases.

In terms of citrus products, the most imported citrus fruit by the EU market has been mandarins, with 41% of the total, ahead of oranges, which accounted for 35.4%. However, both still saw a reduction in the volume of purchases from the EU compared to last year. Orange imports fell by 27.3% and those of mandarins by 5.7%. In fact, all citrus fruits recorded reductions except for lemons, whose imports increased by 77.4%.

The new cold treatment regulation imposed as a requirement to import non-European citrus into the EU, which has been enforced for orange imports so far, has undoubtedly affected the imported volume of what goes in 2022. According to Fernando Dupuis, Tridge’s Distribution Manager in Europe, the orange market in the Netherlands, Europe’s largest citrus import market, has felt a decrease in South Africa’s orange volume. “The new cold treatment protocols imposed by the EU on orange imports from South Africa have kept the Netherlands market somewhat short in 2022. This has allowed prices to remain stable, with only slight variations. However, according to importers of South African products based in the Netherlands,” he explained, this is expected to change further in the season.

According to the South African Government, in the month of August, there were about 2 thousand containers of South African citrus blockaded in different ports of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden for not having undergone the cold treatment in force in the EU.

With a decreased citrus production in the EU, the cold treatment requirement, which has been a long-awaited request from European citrus producers, will be a crucial factor for the development of the 2022/23 EU citrus campaign. Citrus prices for the next campaign are therefore expected to be vulnerable and are likely to increase throughout the season.