The Egyptian citrus season is coming to an end, with the exception those who pushed back harvest and hung the fruits on their tree, which is risky as per Amgad Nessem Director of Exports at El Teriak Farms.

The exporter says: “Because of an oversupply of oranges in Europe as a result of the Red Sea crisis, some growers decided to defer the harvest to store citrus on their trees. Thus, the harvest was prolonged. It’s an adventure in a period that European demands for oranges are decreasing. Also, there are concerns about the quality of the fruits because of the arrival of the fruit flying insects.”

Amgad continues “The Egyptian summer brings high temperatures that can reach 46 °, along with fruit flies that require intensive treatments.”

The season has been tough for Egyptian Navel as well as Valencia oranges. It’s “a season not to be remembered,” according to Amgad. “We began the season by producing a lot of our own, however it was a difficult time for us because the Red Sea crisis cut us completely off from Asian as well as East African markets. This meant that the supply was overflowing of the product in Europe which meant that prices were extremely cheap.”

“During the time of the campaign there were several times that the demand soared. However, our clients often requested us to cut back on deliveries due to prices being too high. Only towards the end of April which was when the majority of exporters had run out of their stock the prices increased slightly,” adds Amgad.

“Fortunately the competition hasn’t affected Egyptian exporters of oranges,” says the exporter. “Spain has been impacted by bad weather conditions that reduced production by about a third. Turkish oranges aren’t attractive due to inadequately monitored residual levels of pesticides. Finally, South Africa has not yet begun the campaign. There were also no oranges in shelves.”

It appears that the Navel orange campaign has performed better than Valencia orange, according to the company that exports. He says: “Despite a stumble at the launch ceremony of the campaign that finally happened on the 15th of December however, the Navel campaign was more successful in comparison to the Valencia campaign which came just a bit earlier. It is crucial to choose the right time because a small time span separates both versions.”

Amgad concluding: “We could have done better this year with greater agreement among exporters about pricing and volumes. It is necessary to have more collaboration as well as the setting of a benchmark price especially in light of the increased volume. If not, the next season will be as challenging.”

For further information, click here.

Amgad Nessem

Elteriak Farms

Tel: +201 207 976 920

Email: [email protected]

www.elteriakfarms.com