GLOBAL OVERVIEW ORANGES

This year's orange season has seen different producing countries vying for spots on export markets, as the seasons have had significant overlaps, particularly between the Spanish and South African seasons on the European markets. In China, Australian oranges seem to be losing out in favour of South African produce, due to trade relation issues holding up the fruits in ports.

The Netherlands: Overlap Spanish and overseas oranges
This week, the first Spanish Navelina oranges will arrive in the Netherlands. "There are currently still plenty of oranges from South Africa, but also from Argentina and Peru on the market," indicates a Dutch importer. "Those prices are between 11-13 euros."

Germany: South African season dominates the market
On the German market blood oranges from Australia were sold at 3,50 Euros per kg this season. Italian oranges of the Navelina variety were only available in very small quantities. Otherwise, South African batches dominated the market, with prices mostly below the previous year's level. Two wholesalers from different regions in Northern Germany have said that they mainly sold oranges from South Africa for juice production. The quality, however, is rather low compared to the Spanish products. 

Another wholesaler from Northern Germany also sells oranges from Colombia and Peru. Prices had to be adjusted accordingly, given the high freight and delivery costs. The latter also said that the demand for oranges was slowly declining. The start of the Spanish season in calendar week 44 will then replace the currently dominant South African season.

China: Decline in import of Australian oranges to China
Although China does have its own domestic production of oranges, the harvest of China Gannan orange has not yet started. 

For the import orange market this year, South Africa and Peru produced high yields and increased their volume. The overall arrival volume was higher than the same period last year. This has also had some impact on the import of Australian oranges. Some businesses that used to import Australian oranges switched to South African oranges. "In addition to port congestion caused by the tight global capacity, China Customs implements 100% inspection of Australian fruits. It takes about ten days for the inspection and quarantine process such as disinfection and sterilization. Therefore, the time for containers from Australia to enter the market has a serious lag. Two months ago we ordered a batch of Australian oranges from the place of origin, but this batch is still in the port. But on the other hand, the slow arrival of containers has also brought about the fruit circulation and prices on the market. It has a certain stabilizing effect. Overall, the sales of Australian oranges in the Chinese market this season are not very good.