The Citrus Growers Association (CGA) of Southern Africa has issued words of warning as the season gets underway by urging exporters take special care, particularly in Russian and Middle Eastern markets.

The group expects South Africa will ship slightly less citrus fruit this year, with estimated volume down 2.2% at 113.1 million cartons.

In a weekly newsletter, CGA CEO Justin Chadwick said uncertain market conditions meant growers needed to ensure 'responsible decision-making' to keep unwanted or oversupplied fruit out of the international market.

"Unfortunately we are entering a season that has "difficult" written all over it," Chadwick said.

"Responsible decision making means ensure that you have a fixed deal on your fruit – a chaotic marketing environment attracts speculators."

He said the message from Russia was that there were a lot of Egyptian oranges of substandard quality available, selling at very low prices.

"This situation will continue through to end May. The weak ruble has resulted in food inflation of 16-17%; Russian importers are looking to secure fruit at lower prices – be careful," he said.

"Care is also needed in the Middle East where strict payment conditions must be imposed – this is not the year to speculate! Growers need to ensure that they understand fully what terms and conditions their export agents are negotiating; at the end of the day the grower bears the losses resulting from a poor deal."

Lemons are the only segment within the category that is set to rise in volume this year, at a rate of 2.9%, reaching 13.2 million cartons. Meanwhile, CGA believes soft citrus will remain steady at 10 million cartons, with increases for satsumas and mandarins, and declines for clementines and novas.

Making up more than 65% of the total citrus offering, orange shipments will be down but not by a great percentage. Valencia shipments are set to drop 3.5% to 49.1 million cartons, while Navels should fall by the same rate to 25.1 million cartons.

The decline in grapefruit exports is roughly in line with the overall citrus category, down 2% to 15.3 million cartons.

By the end of week 14, South Africa had shipped around 500,000 cartons of soft citrus and roughly 800,000 cartons of lemons, taking the total up 75% year-on-year.

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