New market growth for citrus exporters
Decline in sales to Europe offset by rising demand from Asian market
ALTHOUGH the Western Cape has seen significant growth in citrus exports to new markets, the province has seen a decrease in exports to its biggest market, Europe. This is according to the ministry of economic opportunities, which works in tandem with the departments of agriculture and economic development and tourism.
South Africa is the second-largest exporter of citrus in the world after Spain, and accounts for 10% of the global market.
The Western Cape exports 62% of South Africa’s 10% market share, making it the largest exporter of citrus fruit in the Southern Hemisphere.
To put this into perspective, China and the US, the third and fourth-largest citrus exporters, hold global market shares of 8% and 7% respectively.
While most of the province’s exports consist of oranges, which accounted for 54% of exports last year, soft citrus (19%) has shown excellent growth in the past 10 years. Exports of lemons and limes, which showed good growth between 2012 and 2015, have since tapered considerably.
Europe is the Western Cape’s biggest market for exports but the market size there has declined from 55% of all Western Cape citrus exports in 2008, to 47% last year. According to the ministry of economic opportunities the reason for the decline was not a result of citrus black spot as the Western Cape was considered to be a citrus black spot-free region. The Netherlands still remained the province’s top export destination, and excellent growth was seen in specific European markets such as Portugal, which had accounted for 27.1% of real annual export growth since 2008.
The Asian and Oceania market, however, had made up for the decline in Exports to Europe, growing from 34% in 2008 to 42% last year.
At a country level, the UK and the Netherlands were the biggest buyers of Western Cape citrus. However, citrus exports to China had shown remarkable growth, with the Chinese market currently valued at R752 million, with 50.5% real annual growth recorded since 2008.
Exports to Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh were also showing growth.
Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said that although Europe had long been a major destination for exports, the Western Cape was seeing growth in the Asian market, showing a new shift.
“This is especially positive news with the uncertainty around Brexit and what this means for European and UK exports. Our Project Khulisa strategy has been to focus on growing the agricultural and agri-processing sectors, thereby creating new jobs.
“By developing new export markets for our produce, while still providing a world class product to our traditional markets, we can grow this economy,” said Winde.
The Western Cape had also focused on growing its halaal exports, and the growth of citrus exports to countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain was a step towards meeting the Project Khulisa goal.
“Citrus farming also creates jobs in the winter months, once the harvest of the summer deciduous fruits and grapes has taken place, creating more employment opportunities for seasonal workers.” –