“There is optimism in the citrus market, particularly with the grapefruit season, which started even better than expected,” stated Diego Moeykens, general manager of Indiana Import. This French company also believes that “there are great prospects for Navel oranges, although we still need to be cautious,” affirms Moeykens, as the cracking problems that these oranges have suffered has led to a considerable reduction in the volume available for sale. “We think that the replacement effect (from one variety to another) will play against Navels’ prices and will put a ceiling on their maximum price levels,” assures Moeykens. The South African Navels and the prices of the latest Spanish oranges “will leave an interesting price for the Valencia,” explains Moeykens. Indiana Import also believes that the volume of juicing oranges will be better than in 2016.

For their part, “grapefruits started with a price level about 10-15% higher than last year, and also with growth in the volumes exported to the EU,” confirms Moeykens. They also explain that there was an increase in exports in week 18, which raised some concerns about potential market saturation, but volumes returned to normal in the following weeks. “It is vital to keep the weekly volumes under control in order to prevent the price of grapefruit from falling, and that is something that South African exporters will still have to learn little by little,” explains the representative of Indiana Import.

“We believe that the business model we have in southern Europe works well and guarantees profitability for our partners at origin, in South Africa, as well as satisfaction to our customers across the continent,” concludes Moeykens.