Alejandro Moralejo, CEO of the leading company in the import and export of fresh fruits, analyses the US import citrus campaign.

According to Alejandro Moralejo, CEO of Salix Fruits, South Africa, the major citrus supplier in the Southern Hemisphere, has grown in all citrus varieties. “The first week of April, RSA (South Africa) started with lemon shipments to the Middle East, their most important market, and to Canada”, he said.

Currently, the US is also sourcing the last shipments of lemons from Mexico while Argentina is starting its shipments to Canada, along with Russia and other parts of Europe. Moralejo assures that despite the summer drought in Argentina, lemon volumes are guaranteed for all markets.

On the other hand, the mandarin market is the only one still covered by the Northern Hemisphere. The US is sourcing the last shipments of mandarins from Morocco, while Chile and Peru are waiting for their crops to be ready. “Peru will start the early mandarin season in the next few weeks. It will be the late mandarin supplier to Northern Hemisphere markets. The earliest fruit is waiting for market windows in the Northern Hemisphere”, said Moralejo.

In all, Moralejo notes that it is a season with an earlier window for the Southern Hemisphere citrus because of the lack of product from Spain, Morocco, and Turkey, though later production will continue from Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco.

As for demand, in the US and Canada, is strong for imported citrus. Moralejo states that Salix will continue offering citrus from its sourcing regions, including Argentina, South Africa, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. “We are very pleased with the supply from our Egypt office, which will give us a large volume for the next season in the Northern Hemisphere. This is in addition to the excellent quality product from Spain and Morocco, where Salix has been present for the last two years”, he added.