Egypt continues to build up its position in the orange market in Brazil despite the Brazilian orange production being almost five times as high as the Egyptian one, as reported by EastFruit. Egyptian oranges arrived in the Brazilian market just in 2020, but then the volumes climbed drastically!
Egypt signed the Free-Trade Agreement with MERCOSUR (a South American trade bloc) back in 2017, but the first test batches of Egyptian oranges arrived in Brazil in 2020 (75 tonnes). A year after, the Egyptian orange exports to Brazil reached 3,600 tonnes, and in 2022 exports stood at 11,800 tonnes. The same volumes were registered in the first half of the current year.
It is quite interesting that Egypt managed to enter the market of Brazil despite its status as the global leader in orange production. In 2022, Brazil harvested almost 17 mln tonnes of oranges, while the Egyptian production totaled just 3,6 mln tonnes, just a fifth of the Brazilian volumes. Nevertheless, Brazilian oranges are mostly utilized for processing into orange juice; therefore, the country indeed has the demand for fruits for the fresh market.
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Brazil annually imports between 20,000 tonnes and 30,000 tonnes of oranges for the domestic market. For comparison, in 2022 the Brazilian fresh orange exports amounted to just 360 tonnes, and a year before they totaled just 3,600 tonnes. Growing orange processing volumes in Brazil is linked to a continuous decline in orange production in Florida (USA). In 2022, the orange harvest in Florida reached its 56-year low! As Florida is the key manufacturer of orange juice in the USA, local processors had to compensate for the shortage with an increase in imports from Brazil.
Egyptian oranges are available in the Brazilian market mostly in January-May, when they compete mainly with Spain. Nevertheless, in 2022, Egypt has for the first time exported more oranges to Brazil than Spain and become Brazil’s leading supplier. Meanwhile, Spain heads the list of suppliers just in December, when shipments from Egypt are on their way to Brazil.
In June-July, orange imports reach their low in Brazil, as the market is focused mostly on domestic produce. Since early summer Brazil importers also switch to oranges from Southern America (Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile).
Egypt does not consider Brazil as its key target in orange exports. For example, in 2022, Saudi Arabia imported about 300,000 tonnes of Egyptian oranges, and exports to India totaled 100,000 tonnes. The export volumes to the EU or South East Asia are as well more significant. However, a continuous search for new markets and diversification of exports are important steps for Egyptian exporters; therefore, such trends will only be intensifying in the future.
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