After eleven years of negotiations, the South African citrus industry has been given the go-ahead to export to the Philippines after the signing of a workplan between the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and the Philippines Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI).
With the Philippines importing around 117 000 tons of citrus between 2016 and 2018, this new market will help keep the local industry on its strong growth trajectory. Overall, we expect the citrus industry to grow by a further 500 000 tons over the next 3 to 5 years, resulting in more job opportunities and foreign exchange revenue for South Africa.
As the Citrus Growers Association, we are always thrilled when we get the chance to take our South African fruit to new consumers in far-flung parts of the world. This market access to the Philippines is a resounding vote of confidence in the quality of local citrus and the excellence of our growers.
Mandarins make up the biggest volumes of citrus imported by the Philippines, with over 80 000 tons imported between 2016 and 2018, the majority (60%) from China, followed by Pakistan (25%). Currently, the largest exporters of mandarins from the Southern Hemisphere to the Philippines are Argentina (8 000 tons or 10%) and Australia (2000 tons or 3%).
Oranges are the second leading citrus import (28 000 tons between 2016 and 2018), with China (22%) and Australia (20%) the main sources. Lemon imports have also been growing steadily over the past few years with the USA being the predominant supplier followed by China.
With soft citrus, valencias and lemon exports showing remarkable growth over the past two years - up by (53.6%), (30.1%) and (50.8%) respectively – we hope that the local citrus industry will become the leading Southern Hemisphere exporter of these citrus groups into the Philippines over the next few years.
In light of the 2020 citrus season coming to a close in the next few weeks, the first shipment of citrus is only likely to head to the Philippines at the start of the 2021 citrus season. However, we are currently trying to see whether the country will accept trial shipments to test the system so that we kick-off with a strong campaign early next year.
Southern Africa is expected to export a record total of 142.6 million cartons of by the end of the 2020 season. This will be a 12% increase when compared to 2019, which saw 126.7 million cartons being exported, generating R20 billion in export revenue and sustaining 120 000 jobs.
This achievement is largely a result of close collaboration between industry role players including the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA), Citrus Research International (CRI), South African Embassy in Manila, and DALRRD when it comes to increasing market access. We will continue working with government to open and expand access in other key markets including China, USA, India, Japan, Vietnam and the European Union.
