As the Northern Hemisphere citrus season comes to a close and the Southern Hemisphere season begins, Salix Fruits, a leading company in the import and export of fresh fruits, said shipments of citrus are arriving steadily.
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 U.S. 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 said 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 U.S. 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 noted 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.
Moralejo said there is strong demand in the U.S. and Canada for imported citrus, and 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,” he said. “This is in addition to the excellent quality product from Spain and Morocco, where Salix has been present for the last two years.”