Mexican orange production in 2022–23 is forecast at 4.2 million metric tons (MMT), 9% lower than the previous year, due to prolonged drought in northeastern Mexico. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS).
Mexico is estimated to be the fifth-largest orange producer in the world behind Brazil, China, India and the United States.
Orange planted area for 2022–23 is projected at 352,000 hectares, a marginal increase from the previous year.
National orange yield for 2022–23 is forecast at 13 metric tons per hectare, 7% lower than the previous year.
Since 2021, farmers in Mexico, including citrus growers, have struggled with the high price of fertilizers that escalated dramatically in 2022, due to the war in Ukraine. Citrus growers report 187% to 200% price increases in these inputs. To cope with the high cost of fertilizers, farmers are adjusting application rates.
FRESH ORANGE TRADE
Mexico’s fresh orange exports for 2022–23 are forecast at 75,000 metric tons (MT), nearly unchanged from the previous year. More than 97% of Mexico’s fresh orange exports go to the United States.
The fresh orange import forecast for 2022–23 is 35,000 MT. Mexico imports fresh oranges exclusively from the United States, primarily for fresh consumption at the border region. Fresh orange imports for 2021–22 were estimated at 20,000 MT.
FCOJ TRADE
Mexico is forecast to produce 176,000 MT of frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) in 2022–23, down from 215,000 MT the prior year. Mexico generally sends around 40% of its orange production into juice processing.
The overwhelming majority of Mexican FCOJ production is exported, and almost exclusively to the United States. However, the European Union, Canada, Japan and numerous countries throughout the Western Hemisphere also import smaller volumes of FCOJ from Mexico. FCOJ exports for 2022–23 are forecast at 171,000 MT, down from 210,000 MT the prior year.
FCOJ imports in 2022–23 are forecast at 2,000 MT. Mexico
imports a small amount of orange juice for supermarkets or small processors. Processors report that the majority of FCOJ imports are juice produced in Mexico that was shipped for bottling/packaging to the United States and reimported for sale in supermarkets.
See the full USDA FAS report on Mexican citrus here.
Source: USDA FAS
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