The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) recently issued forecasts for Japanese citrus production. Covered crops included the following:
ORANGES
Japanese 2022–23 orange production is forecast at 5,600 metric tons (MT), a decline of 2% from the previous year. Orange harvested area is projected to fall by 1.2% to 395 hectares.
Orange imports are forecast at 80,000 MT in 2022–23, up 11.1% from the prior year. The United States will be the source of 35,000 MT of imports. In 2021–22, for the first time in recent years, the United States was not the top supplier by volume of the Japanese orange market. Australia supplied 51.4% of Japan’s imports, while the United States supplied 40.3%.
Japanese orange exports are expected to remain negligible at 14 MT in 2022–23, the same as the prior year.
GRAPEFRUIT/POMELO
Japan’s domestic grapefruit production is negligible at approximately 35 MT on 2 hectares of planted area. However, Japan produces several pomelo or grapefruit-like citrus varieties (Japanese pomelo). USDA FAS estimates 2022–23 grapefruit
production, including Japanese pomelo, at 27,000 MT with planted area of 1,250 hectares.
Japan’s 2022–23 fresh grapefruit imports are expected to fall 11.2% from the prior year to 40,000 MT. In 2021–22, South Africa continued to be the leading grapefruit supplier to Japan at 23,147 MT. In 2021–22, Israel overtook the United States as the second largest grapefruit supplier as U.S. exports substantially declined.
Japan’s fresh grapefruit exports in 2021–22 were negligible (less than 1 MT) due to limited domestic production. No changes are expected to Japanese grapefruit exports in 2022–23.
LEMON/LIME
Japanese lemon/lime production is forecast to increase marginally in 2022–23 to 49,000 MT.
The area harvested for fresh lemons and lemon-like citrus is likewise expected to marginally increase by 0.2% to 4,435 hectares.
In 2021–22, Japan’s fresh lemon imports totaled 43,807 MT. The United States remains the leading lemon supplier to Japan at 50% of the 2021–22 import share, followed by Chile with 38%. Japan’s combined lemon and lime imports are expected to increase 8.7% in 2022–23.
Japan’s fresh lemon and lime exports are negligible (less than 1 MT).
Read more on mandarin/tangerine production in Japan.
See the full USDA FAS report on Japanese citrus here.
Source: USDA FAS
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