Photo by: CGA
Although the lemon season is drawing to a close, and some areas have finished packing, feedback from the remaining harvesting areas has necessitated a further downward adjustment of the overall export estimate, the Lemon Focus Group of industry organisation the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA) says.
The overall lemon export estimate follows a pattern that has become clear as the citrus season progressed, namely that owing to drier weather causing fruit sizes to be somewhat smaller, good local juicing prices and recent severe weather events, fewer 15 kg cartons of citrus will be exported than expected.
At the start of the lemon season, the export of 37.9-million 15 kg cartons of lemons was projected.
The latest adjustment brings the total estimate for 2024 exports of lemons to 33.9-million cartons. In 2023, Southern Africa exported 35.6-million cartons.
Adjustments this week by the Sundays River Valley, which was lower by almost one-million cartons, and the Western Cape, with Citrusdal down 100 000 cartons, were the most significant.
Strong winds in the Sundays River Valley and flooding in Citrusdal have had an impact on these figures.
"There is a clear swing in the figures. It has been a very unusual season. There was an initial concern that there might be an oversupply of lemons, but this is not the case anymore. Supply will be relatively stable and demand, especially in Europe, looks good," says CGA Lemon Focus Group chairperson Leroux Venter. 