Chile’s citrus exports surge by 46% 

After 2 challenging years due to drought and high shipping costs, there is finally some respite for Chile’s citrus exporters. Greater rainfall this year has helped increase productivity. At week 40, the season closed with shipments totalling 380,390 tons (24,076,863 boxes), which is 46% higher than in 2022 and 15% above the average of the last three seasons. Of this total, 42.0% corresponds to mandarins, 24.2% to oranges, 17.6% to lemons and 16.2% to clementines.

Regarding markets, the US absorbed 88.4% of exports, with the remaining volume destined for the Far East (6.1%), Latin America (2.6%), Europe (1.8%), Canada (0.8%), Russia (0.3%) and the Middle East (0.01%). The United States accounted for more than 90% of all mandarins and clementines exported from Chile as well as 80% of its oranges and 60% of its lemons. Japan and South Korea are also major markets for Chilean lemons.