Citrus production in Australia is experiencing favorable conditions after above-average rainfall in all of the major growing areas in 2020 and 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) recently reported. As a result, production in the country is projected to increase in 2021-22.
Orange production is forecast at 535,000 metric tons (MT) in 2021-22, a 2% increase over the estimated 2020-21 crop. Exports of Australian oranges are forecast to rebound to 190,000 MT in the forecast year after a significant drop to 160,000 MT in 2020-21. The volume of oranges for processing into juice is forecast to decline by 10% to 225,000 MT after a spike in 2020-21.
(Photo by Karolina Kołodziejczak on Unsplash)
Australia is projected to import 18,000 MT of orange juice in 2021-22, slightly higher than the anticipated 17,300 MT of domestic production. Domestic production is expected to be down from the large production of 19,200 MT in 2020-21. The large production in 2020-21 was due to a large increase in supply of oranges for juicing.
Orange juice exports are set to fall to a more typical level of 3,500 MT in the forecast year after a large increase to 5,000 MT in 2020-21. Domestic consumption is forecast to remain relatively stable at 32,000 MT despite the health consciousness triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to reported increases in home consumption.
The mandarin planted area has increased 42% since 2014. Much of the new plantings will begin bearing fruit in the coming years, boosting production and export growth. Mandarin production is forecast to increase by 6% in 2021-22 to 190,000 MT, and exports are forecast to reach a record 90,000 MT. Domestic consumption is expected to remain unchanged at 101,000 MT in the forecast year.
See the full FAS report on Australia’s citrus outlook.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service
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