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Tag: South African Citrus

28 Feb 2023
SA Flag
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CGA calls for urgent political intervention to ensure South African oranges continue to be exported to EU in 2023

The Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) has written to Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel requesting that he urgently calls for the establishment of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) Panel to adjudicate on the new False Coddling Moth (FCM) regime governing the importation of South African oranges to the EU region. If the issue is not resolved before the 2023 export season kicks off, growers could face hundreds of millions in losses putting the future sustainability of the entire industry at risk.

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31 Aug 2022
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Tonnes of South African citrus fruit stranded in EU ports over dispute

Tonnes of oranges are rotting in containers stuck in European ports and could be wasted as South Africa and the European Union clash in a trade dispute over import rules.

South Africa, the world’s second-largest exporter of fresh citrus fruits after Spain, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month when the EU introduced new phytosanitary requirements that growers say threaten their survival.

The measures came into force in July when ships carrying hundreds of containers full of South African fruit bound for Europe were already at sea, causing them to be blocked on arrival, according to the South African Citrus Growers Association (CGA).

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31 Aug 2022
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South African domestic market: ”We’ve never had a citrus year like this”

On the domestic market, prices for South African oranges are 20 to 30% lower than usual, selling for an average of R2.50 and R3 per kilogram.

“It’s a mess,” declares a municipal market citrus trader who doesn’t want to be named. “We’ve never had a citrus season like this, I’d say it’s one of the most difficult years we’ve ever had.”

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21 Jul 2022
Navel Pickers
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South African citrus: “The Russian market turned out to be actually very good”

Running a fruit exporting company feels a bit like being an operational company that happens to sell fruit at the moment, an exporter remarks, when managing logistics and fighting for space and equipment on vessels take up most of their days.

“You have to be passionate about fruit to be working in the fruit trade,” he says. “It’s not an easy place at the moment.”

Slow colour development on Valencias in Limpopo Province has meant at least two to three weeks of lost marketing opportunities, which, along with impediments to South Africa’s lemon and the grapefruit harvest, could explain why citrus volumes via Durban port have, thus far, not been as high as expected.

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25 May 2021
Ruby Grapefruit
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South African grapefruit growers flatten the curve through an early start

Citrus growers in areas like Letsitele, Hoedspruit and Onderberg have decided to pick their grapefruit earlier in order to benefit from an empty market. Despite this decision, the grapefruit still conform to market requirements. This has allowed South Africa to be the sole grapefruit supplier on the market for about six months.

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