Citrus Market Dynamics
Between 2017 and 2022, South African average orange export prices have traded largely sideways, except in 2019 which saw prices decreasing on the back of lower EU prices. This was a result of increased EU production during the Northern hemisphere 2018/19 season combined with a late Spanish season in which case the latter caused an overlap with imports from South Africa into the EU. In 2020, prices
rebounded as a result of firm demand around the globe for
Orange Market Dynamics
products that are high in Vitamin C. This was underpinned by the rapid
spread of Covid-19. In 2021, average South African orange prices came under pressure
again. This was the result of two notable factors. The first is the shipping issues as explained above, which affected fruit quality and time in the market. The second was bottlenecks on roads to the Durban port and congestion at the port itself, caused by the July unrests and the hacking of the Transnet IT system. This delayed shipments. With marketing weeks lost as a result of this, increased volumes were pushed later into the season which depressed prices in those weeks. The South African marketing season also extended beyond mid-October which triggered a tariff for exports into the EU and as in 2019, South African exports again overlapped with the availability of early EU fruit.
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