South African citrus growers have urged Capespan to provide them with more market information in a bid to avoid another disastrous season.
This year’s citrus market was one of the worst on record in terms of returns for many growers, with oversupply of fruit on the European market.
One producer, Grant Downie from the Limpopo Province, said: “We thought we’d be entering an empty market with our record crop after the Spanish big freeze. However, Europe was under pressure with a glut of fruit. We then pumped our fruit into other markets. But everyone else was doing the same thing.”
Max le Roux, Capespan citrus market manager for the UK, said the damage caused by the cold in Spain last winter had not been as bad as feared. Once the season started, there was far more fruit on the market than had been expected.
“The first few weeks were excellent, with good prices. Then everything went downhill and we ended up at a level 25-30% lower than we anticipated.
“At the end of July there was still Spanish fruit in both Spain and the UK selling at E4. But we have to sell at a minimum of E8-plus to make it worthwhile for our growers.”
Downie claimed better information flow from Capespan could have pre-warned growers of the supply glut in time to mitigate the damage.
Le Roux said: “It’s extremely difficult predicting the market five weeks in advance. That said, I’m confident Capespan is the one agent supplying the most comprehensive market information to producers.”
This year’s citrus market was one of the worst on record in terms of returns for many growers, with oversupply of fruit on the European market.
One producer, Grant Downie from the Limpopo Province, said: “We thought we’d be entering an empty market with our record crop after the Spanish big freeze. However, Europe was under pressure with a glut of fruit. We then pumped our fruit into other markets. But everyone else was doing the same thing.”
Max le Roux, Capespan citrus market manager for the UK, said the damage caused by the cold in Spain last winter had not been as bad as feared. Once the season started, there was far more fruit on the market than had been expected.
“The first few weeks were excellent, with good prices. Then everything went downhill and we ended up at a level 25-30% lower than we anticipated.
“At the end of July there was still Spanish fruit in both Spain and the UK selling at E4. But we have to sell at a minimum of E8-plus to make it worthwhile for our growers.”
Downie claimed better information flow from Capespan could have pre-warned growers of the supply glut in time to mitigate the damage.
Le Roux said: “It’s extremely difficult predicting the market five weeks in advance. That said, I’m confident Capespan is the one agent supplying the most comprehensive market information to producers.”
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