The Spanish lemon industry has cut its total crop forecast again this year, following numerous adverse weather-related events in the country.

Industry association Ailimpo is now estimating 1.02m metric tons (MT) of Spanish lemons, which is 90,000MT lower than the original estimate.

Total production of the predominant Fino variety was originally forecast at 820,000MT, but Ailimpo has since revised it to 730,000MT, a reduction of 20% compared to the 918,000MT produced in the 2018-19 season.

The estimate for the late-season Verna variety is unchanged since the original forecast at 290,000MT, but down 24% on the 2018-19 season.

Ailimpo expects that demand will be activated for Fino lemons from February onwards. For the Verna variety, the harvests are expected around April, May and June.

Around 20-25% of the total crop is estimated to be processed – an industry for which the Spanish lemon industry ranks second in the world.