South African orange production and area under production are both forecast to increase by 1% in 2024–25 compared to the prior year. Orange juice production is projected to climb 4%.
The forecasts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) are for 1.69 million metric tons (MMT) of orange production, 44,500 hectares of oranges planted, and orange juice (OJ) production of 57,100 metric tons (MT). The orange production increase in 2024–25 will likely be accompanied by improvement in fruit quality and yields compared to the 2023–24 harvest.
REGIONS AND VARIETIES
Limpopo province is the leading orange-growing region in South Africa, accounting for 50% of total area, followed by the Eastern Cape (24%) and Western Cape (15%) provinces.
Valencias account for two-thirds of total orange area. Navels account for the remainder.
The predominant cultivar planted is Midknight, representing 26% of total area, followed by Valencia Late (10%), Delta (9%), Bennie (7%) and Turkey (7%) cultivars. Other cultivars planted in South Africa include Cambria, Palmer, Bahianinha and Washington.
TRADE OUTLOOK
USDA FAS forecasts that orange exports in 2024–25 will decrease by 1% from 2023–24, to 1.1 MMT. The expected decrease is due to higher than usual processing prices, which are expected to divert volumes from fresh fruit exports to juice.
South Africa exports oranges to more than 100 countries around the world, but the European Union remains its largest export market, accounting for approximately 36% of orange export share. Orange exports typically leave South Africa through the Port of Durban (54%) and the Port of Cape Town (21%).
Orange imports are forecast to drop from 5,000 metric tons (MT) in 2024 to 3,000 MT in 2025.
ORANGE JUICE
The increase in orange juice production is due to higher-than-usual juicing prices. Growers are expected to divert fruit meant for fresh exports to processing.
Orange juice exports in 2024–25 are forecast to increase by 1% to 41,500 MT on improved production.
See the full USDA FAS report on South African citrus production here.
Source: USDA FAS
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