The Argentine citrus season of 2023 will soon come to a close there is a huge demands in their major export markets, however because of the severe drought, and other issues they’re unable to offer sufficient supplies. “Due because of the dry season,, we as a large-scale packer can only utilize half our packing home, yet even with the same overhead cost that must be paid,” says Nahuel Lavino Export sales manager at Fama the Argentinian citrus importer and exporter.

Graph: FederCitrus

Mandarin and orange export numbers up to week thirty of 2023 was the 2nd lowest in the past 10 years as per the most recent statistics released by FederCitrus. The exports of mandarins and citrus are half that of the last season which saw mandarins and oranges through week 30 in 2022 weighing 53,000 pallets, while at the same time in 2023, it’s only 250,000 pallets.

“It’s simply sad that we are unable to meet the demands once there’s huge demand. The volume is lower than it has ever been and demand is extremely high particularly now that South Africa seems to be likely to finish its fruit season much earlier. the reality is that we can’t handle this increase because Argentina does not have lots of fruits due to the dry conditions. This will make prices rise for the last mangoes and oranges which arrive with good quality.” Lavino explains. Lavino.

They are barely covering their expenses in the business. “We are struggling to make the ends meet! The business we started was designed for a large volume of deliveries, however and we’re seeing half our packing facilities that is not in use because of the shortage of fruit. This makes the cost per box up. We are hoping that markets will adjust to the increased demand and will accept higher costs!”

The citrus harvest in Argentina began earlier because of the various problems caused due to drought, but also the arid climate that resulted in smaller size and lesser volumes. There are currency issues in Argentina with high inflation, as well as unstable politics and the emergency declaration was made for the producers of Tucuman. These factors led to an extremely challenging the citrus season in Argentina. There are also bureaucratic issues on and around the European market. The normally stable Russian market has witnessed the Ruble slide following a long conflict in Ukraine as well as international sanctions. These have created further difficulties to the Argentine citrus industry to cope with.

Fama as well as other Argentinian citrus producers, is now confront the issue of the best customer for supply, or not to supply with the small quantities that they are able to supply. “So the next step is to provide the highest quality we can from this chance that is in high demand. We’re disappointed because there are many people that ask us for fruit, but we are unable to give it to all of them. It’s a difficult decision to make which customers we’ll be able to serve or not provide,” states Lavino.

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Nahuel Lavino

Fama

Tel: +34 636 497 142

Email: nahuellavino@gmail.com

www.citrusfama.com.ar