Failure to start the Moroccan Clementine early campaign

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The beginning of the citrus season in Morocco is difficult, at best in the opinion of professionals in the most affluent areas of citrus, including Souss Massa, Berkane, and Marrakech. The volume is down half and the sizes aren’t enough to be suitable for clementines in the early season, due to extreme drought and heat for the fourth year in a row.

The fourth main citrus region, Beni Mellal, has been unable to escape this problem as stated by Ahmed Bouljid, co-owner of the company that packs Lexus. Bouljid states, “The situation differs slightly between regions, but it’s still a bad beginning all over the world. Beni Mallal is also hit by the drought and heat. The clementines seem to be getting drier everywhere. Berkane has a better performance with regards to quality however the size is smaller than the norm. It is possible to speak about a lackluster beginning to the season.”

It’s too early to determine the final fate of the season, according to Bouljid. “We strive to get the most premium boxes of each region. the clementines are still available for export with excellent quality. We’ll keep an eye on the situation with the next varieties. The varieties we have are Afourar, Navel, and Maroc Late coming next year. The whole thing will be dependent on the rainfall in the coming weeks. We’ll be able to see it more clearly during January.”

The exporter says, “It’s a similarly difficult starting point in other items we sell like avocados as prices are falling because of the fierce competition coming in Latin America. This is especially so because the sizes are a bit smaller this year. The situation could improve by January however, it’ll all depend on how many South American avocados Europeans will have to keep in stock.”

More information is available here:

Ahmed Bouljid

Entrepot Frigorifique Lexus

Tel: +212 661-177735

Email: bouljida@gmail.com

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies