The Egyptian grape season has started with the arrival of good quality grapes at low prices in the Middle East market.  The tail-end of the Chilean grapes arriving in the Middle East market will compete with the Egyptian grapes.

There is still a strong market for apples with limited supply from South Africa and Chile.  The continued downward trend for pears in the Middle East market is due to high volumes that have made arrival with a slow sales rate and low-price levels. 

Although there is a demand for South African Navels, there is currently a lower demand for South African Valencias due to the Egyptian Valencias that are still in the market.

This is the last shipment week ex Durban to reach Jeddah pre-Hajj sales.

• Citrus
• Pome
• Grape, Stone & Kiwi Fruit
• India & Bangladesh
• PPECB Statistics

There is still an overall decrease in the volumes of lemons, navels, and soft citrus shipped YTD to the Middle East.  This can be contributed to the strikes in the Eastern Cape, and weather conditions in the Northern part of South Africa.  In addition to this, the smaller sizing on lemons and soft citrus is also contributing to the lower volumes YTD.  The navels also had a later start to the season.

In General

According to estimates presented to the World Citrus Organization from Southern Hemisphere countries (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, South Africa, and Uruguay), citrus production is expected to increase by 4.9% compared to the 2021 season to reach 24,8 million tons.  Lemon production is projected to grow by 8.3% to reach 4.7 million tons and orange production is forecasted to increase by 5% to reach 16.6 million tons. Soft citrus production is expected to remain stable, while grapefruit will decrease slightly.

Argentina’s Lemon harvest started in the first week of April and is expected to continue until August.

Market update

The market is supplied with the tail-end of Navels from Spain. The first navels from South Africa have started to make their arrival in the Middle East market and are selling between $14.00-$16.00 (15kg) in Dubai.

The market remains stable for South African lemons and is currently supplied with lemons from South Africa and Turkey; however, Argentina will also start making an arrival in the market soon.

Update on Kiwi Fruit and a market update in the GCC countries

Chilean kiwi fruit exported to the Middle East is 10% down compared to the same period last season.  The Chilean growers will open their CA rooms in the next 2 to 3 weeks as they are at the end of their RA season.

India

It seems that India is now becoming a consignment market as more SA exporters dump the market. Sales have slowed down completely. Importers in India are now only able to move their fruit if they give it to their customers on consignment. The pear market has collapsed totally with slow movement and at rock bottom prices. This is even before the big volumes of pears are still to make arrival.

Bangladesh

Local Mangoes/Litchi’s and other fruits are now on the market. Imported fruits are moving slowly and importers are now having to store the fruit in cold stores which is never a good sign. The new duty structure is also hampering the sales as prices need to be higher.