Record season for South African soft citrus exports

South Africa set a new export record in 2019 for volumes shipped of soft citrus, up 12%. Coming off the back of a good 2018 season, when 16.2 million cartons were exported, the 2019 season saw 18.2 million cartons shipped, according to data released by South Africa’s Citrus Growers Association. The main exporting region is Boland, followed by Western Cape, and Patensie, which is still suffering the effects of water shortages. The main destination market for South Africa’s soft citrus is the UK, although shipments there dropped from slightly to 61,200 tons. The second leading destination, the Netherlands, saw volumes rise by around 10% to 55,300 tons, while, in third place, Russia saw a drop 9% drop to 24,400 tons. In fourth position, the US recorded a rise in shipments of around 32% to 16,600 tons. Similar growth was recorded for exports to Bangladesh, up from 10,600 to 14,300 tons.