Southern Africa’s citrus growers tip early season end

Packing of citrus in Southern Africa is so far ahead of last season but growers expect an early end to the season.

In his weekly newsletter, Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa CEO Justin Chadwick said in previous years packing was interrupted by rain in the Eastern Cape (mostly affecting navels and lemons – with up to 15 days being lost before mid-July), but the 2016 season packing has not been affected.

“In addition, the tempo of navel packing was increased to ensure good quality.Although packed data shows 2016 ahead of last season, expectations are that there will be an early stop to the season.

Data in the newsletter show that by the end of the first week of July, 58.5 million 15 Kg cartons had been packed (up from 53.9 million in 2015) and 47.8 million had been shipped (up from 44.4 million).

However the current estimate for packing in 2016 as a whole is 108.4 million, down from last year’s 118.4 million.