While expectations for the South African citrus export forecast were high at the Citrus Growers Association’s (CGA) summit early last month, with the nation predicted to send a record 137 million boxes overseas, some in the industry have warned that exports may be lighter than previously anticipated.

South African citrus growers in the Western and Northern parts of the Cape region are gearing up for the start of their 2019 export season to the US.

The southern African citrus industry has shown considerable growth over the past ten years – doubling export volumes to two million tonnes.

The Citrus Growers Association (CGA) has issued a call for applications for a R307 million Economic Transformation of Black Citrus Growers Programme that has been launched.

Every four years the Citrus Growers' Association recalculates the mandatory levy and, with the blessing of most of its 1,250 growers and 400 packhouses, an increase to the levy from 74c (0.04 euro) to R1,64 (0.086 euro) per 15kg export carton next year has been proposed.

The South African citrus industry’s quest to quench the European Union (EU) market’s thirst for its produce unencumbered by bureaucracy remains elusive. 

Export campaign is turning out to be one of the best in recent years, with high demand for navels and Valencias.

While COVID-19 has disrupted many industries, the citrus industry in South Africa has emerged resilient, with strong demand in export markets and strong potential beyond the crisis.

During the lockdown in March, the demand for oranges went through the roof; a market development from which the southern hemisphere benefited the most.

ndications that South Africa’s citrus crop is likely to significantly increase this season are expected to be confirmed when the industry publishes its first estimate in the next two weeks.

The Department of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has recently released the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the final quarter of 2020, which offered a sobering overview of the year.

The Citrus Growers Association of South Africa released the 2021 citrus production estimate last week and are anticipating a record crop for the region.

Citrus exports overtook wine as South Africa’s largest agricultural export in 2010 and grew to 2½ times the value of wine exports by 2020.

The Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA) has launched a campaign urging industry stakeholders to object to proposed EU legislation that could impose a cold treatment requirement on orange imports to the bloc.

In June, the European Union’s (EU)  Standing Committee on Plant, Animal, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) published drastic, and arguably misinformed, new regulations requiring the cold treatment for oranges heading to the region as a means to address False Coddling Moth (FCM) interceptions from Southern African orange exports. If enforced this month, these new regulations could result in millions of cartons of citrus currently headed to the EU being destroyed.

Escalating load-shedding is impeding the ability of fruit producers to irrigate their crops, various agricultural associations have said, warning that sustained power cuts pose a major threat to the cold storage chain required to keep produce in mint condition for export markets.       

The 2024 citrus export season will begin in earnest this month. In the build-up to the export season, the variety focus groups of the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA) presented their predicted export volumes for the upcoming season at the Citrus Marketing Forum held last week. 

The Orange Focus Group of the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA) met on the 23rd of July to review the export estimates on oranges for the 2024 season.