The Spanish Navelina orange season was going well in the first half of the season - both in quality and price - but the prospects for the second half of the season are even better. "The harvest in the south is running out and the Navel Late, Lane Late and other Navel varieties are now on the market. The harvest of these is considerably lower. Combined with a good demand from the overseas market, this is chasing the price up considerably," says Gert Bouman of the Spanish private producer Frutaria.
"The demand and prices in Europe aren't too high with the terror threat in France and Belgium, and the misery in Germany, but due to the good demand outside of Europe, we are now in the position to say no to them. There isn't nearly enough trade available. Spain has been very active in entering new markets in recent years and we are now reaping the fruits of it. Doors have been opened to countries like China and Korea. China has had a failed crop and is looking for high quality and large sizes of citrus. It's like orange fever!"
"Of course there is competition from countries such as Morocco and Egypt, but those countries have their own markets and the competition is larger with mandarins," says Gert. "The price of oranges has gone up compared to the start of the season and the industry price has even doubled. After the prices being under pressure for so many years, this is a year we can take a breath. But whether this is a tendency that will continue in the future remains to be seen," concludes Gert.
