The 2016 recession should be no more than a hiatus. The CGA is reckoning on record exports of 123 million boxes in 2017, a figure up by 13 % on 2016, and 8% above the four-year average. This forecast reflects both the harvest returning to normal in the northern production zones, hit by frost and drought in 2016, and the main trends of the cultivation area. Not all the citrus families are in the same boat. The export potential is only returning to its 2015 level for the orange, with Navel and Valencia both registering average potential. Similarly, exports should be similar to 2015 and average for the grapefruit, despite the cultivation area losing nearly 2 000 ha between 2013 and 2015. The increase is of course to be found for easy peelers and the lemon, planting of which has seen a massive boom since the beginning of the decade (which has only intensified in the past two years – see FruiTrop 247). Exports should set a record level of 13.2 million boxes for easy peelers, and 17.5 million boxes for the lemon, both figures up by 15 to 20 % from last season, and 30 to 35 % above average. Unlike the previous season, rainfall has been good in the north, but sparse in the south (Western Cape especially), where the sizing should be toward the bottom of the range.
Source: CGA
Source : CGA
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