The Egyptian citrus was hit hard throughout the season by the geopolitical situation, despite an increase in volumes and better sizes compared to the previous season. As a reminder, in a nutshell, the security crisis in the Red Sea turned into a logistical crisis, cutting Egypt off from the major Asian markets, and leading to a superabundance of citrus fruit in Europe and a fall in prices.
According FreshPlaza, many producers and exporters, like Kareem Al-Shorbagy, were hoping for a resolution to the crisis before the end of the season, which would coincide with a recovery in demand driven by the summer heat, religious holidays, and even the Olympic Games in France. How do things stand? “We have to admit that the season is ending in the same difficult and disillusioned fashion”, replies Al-Shorbagy.
“The situation in the Red Sea persists, and neither demand nor prices have improved,” explains the exporter. “There are still too many Valencia oranges of Egyptian origin in cold storages in Europe. There have been several occasions when demand would usually increase, like Ramadan month, and big global events like Olympic Games, with no impact on exports.”
As a result, “a carton of oranges is now 10 euros down from 14 euros for the same period last season, and there aren’t many buyers,” continues the exporter.
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It seems that it is now too late to hope for an upturn in the Egyptian campaign. “South Africa is now on the market with fresh citrus. And even South Africa will be impacted by the availability of Egyptian oranges in abundance in the cold storages this late in the year. We’re gearing up for next season, with navel calendars in November.”
Sweet potatoes to save the day?
On the flip side, the situation is quite the opposite for other crops this summer, especially sweet potatoes Al-Shorbagy says, “We’re now turning our attention to this summer’s champion, sweet potatoes. The campaign is much more promising and we’re feeling optimistic. There’s not much competition, and we’re coming in with decent volumes and excellent quality and freshness. Egyptian sweet potatoes are used in many food industries, opening up wide prospects for expanding their export range.”
“Prices for sweet potatoes this season range from 8 to 10 euros per 6 kg box, very competitive prices. We expect to export much larger quantities of sweet potatoes this season, to offset our citrus campaign,” concludes Al-Shorbagy.
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