The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) has forecast that South Africa’s tangerine/mandarin production will total 740,000 metric tons in 2023–24, up 4% from the prior season. Young trees coming into production is a primary reason for the increase.
PLANTING EXPANSION SLOWS
South Africa has 27,500 hectares of tangerines/mandarins, also known as soft citrus. The rapid expansion in area planted to the soft citrus has slowed. Farmer interest driven by higher global demand for seedless soft citrus and relatively higher profit margins compared to other citrus types led to substantial new plantings. That has left many growers wondering if the market is oversaturated. A small portion of last year’s tangerine/mandarin crop went underutilized due to limited commercial opportunities. Without any viable market for a percentage of the production, producers are hesitant to expand further.
ABOUT THE ACREAGE
An expanding number of hectares of tangerine/mandarin production are under netting to better control pests, enable better water management practices and protect the fruit from adverse weather conditions such as strong winds, hail or sun damage.
The predominant cultivar planted is the Nadorcott, accounting for almost 19% of total area.
The Western Cape province is the predominate producer of soft citrus, accounting for 37% of total production, followed by the Limpopo (28%) and Eastern Cape (25%) provinces.
More than 40% of the soft citrus area in South Africa consists of orchards five years and younger, meaning that a growing volume fruit will reach the market in coming years.
INCREASED EXPORTS
USDA FAS forecasts that South Africa’s tangerine/mandarin exports will increase by 5% in 2023–24, to 630,000 MT. The European Union and the United Kingdom are the largest foreign markets for South African soft citrus, accounting for 45% of total exports. They are followed by the United States (10%), Russia (10%), United Arab Emirates (8%) and China (4%).
See the full USDA FAS report on South African citrus here.
Source: USDA FAS