The sector of Argentina’s citrus faces additional challenges following a delay of the season 2023 because of drought. The sector is also facing challenges due to the nation facing the highest inflation rate of more than 100 percent and challenges with currency. However, the producers insist that they’ve made long-term investments as well as commitments to honor and they will remain a major supplier to global markets.

According to growers of citrus and exporters in Tucuman as well as other areas of production from Argentina who, due to the difficulties are extremely cautious regarding releasing information, and have been requested to keep their identities private: “The season started late because of weather issues. The drought was severe during April. In addition the weather was extremely dry. There were also periods of heavy rain. This caused the harvest to start after May and with lower amount.”

The official sources from the industry didn’t respond within the timeframe to publish.

While the Argentinian Government has declared the state of emergency for agriculture for the principal lemon-producing region of Tucuman Exporters and producers affirm that they’re doing the best they can to “just keep going and get through the hardships our country has to face.”

Argentina received some rain this month (April) However, the producer say it was too late for improvement in the size of the first citrus fruit, which was ripe to harvest. “Small-sized fruit are in the current prevailing. The expectation is to export less quantity towards America. United States. Europe remains the most important consumer of Argentine fruits. The market prices must improve. In the present, we’ll exclusively offer programs using organic lemons.”

The currency that is much less strong than the dollar as well as 108.8 percent increase in inflation year-over-year from April 2023 have seen an almost double in the cost of many consumer items. In the last week, Argentina’s government declared the removal of tariffs on imports in order to allow the import of more food items and to allow it to be more affordable for the average person. The interest rates also hiked to their highest levels around the globe with 97% in order to slow the rate of inflation but it’s going to take long time to implement the system. The experts aren’t sure whether this savage increase in rates can be successful.

The purpose of the agricultural emergency for the Tucuman’s Lemons, as declared on the official site of Argentina’s principal citrus organization, FederCitrus it is designed to grant tax relief for a year. Some of the factors that led to this declaration are believed to have been caused by the increase in the production of citrus from Uruguay as well as South Africa.

The President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez, who is going to be a candidate for a presidential election on October 1st He has met with both the US President and IMF in order to get loans transferred to Argentina earlier to ease the financial crisis. The country’s government is trying to prevent the collapse of the country’s currency as well as stop the worst from occurring in Argentina at the expense of the country’s 46 million inhabitants. The latest measure revealed to permit imports of food products at the lowest tariffs will not be able impact exports, a manufacturer stated.

A third exporter and grower expressed his opinion on the internal and the market issues that Argentina’s citrus industry has to face. “At minimum, the assistance of the special Argentinian peso to export citrus is coming soon that could aid. The season so far is slow with less fruit and smaller sizes. However, the rains have started right at the right time, so are now available. From Nova to the present should be being normal in size, and even in the normal amount. Markets are booming and with slightly lower prices for some varieties and shipping costs are getting back to their normal rates.”

“Canada seems to be experiencing an enormous need for fruits since in the next two or three weeks they won’t have anymore mandarins coming in the northern southern hemisphere. The Russian ruble against USD appear to have stabilized around 80. This is a change from the time in May seemed like it might drop to 100 which would be a nightmare. They are however still requesting the usual amount of fruit, and even when we’re sending lower than in previous years, they remain our top clients. The Philippines have also been experiencing several needs however they are not charging as much that we’d prefer to see for such a remote destination as well as because they have accepted South African mandarins.

“Europe has real demands on oranges since they’re closing their seasons (and the one of Egypt) more quickly than they normally do however, due to the fact that they have placed additional restrictions on South Africa and our usual limitations, I’m not sure what it’s going to take to provide them with the oranges they want! We’d love to cooperate closely with EU however the limitations and the customs charges really hurt us.” the grower said.

“Although we’ve been working with lemons for a number of years, each year is exactly the similar,” another Argentinian grower said.

Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies