In recent years, China has become the target for many Spanish citrus exporters, both expert and inexperienced, seeking new opportunities to diversify their business in a profitable manner. In fact, Spanish orange exports have increased significantly in the last 3 years.
However, the complexity of this market, the tough competition from other origins (in addition to the domestic one), the ineptitude of certain operators and the unfavorable circumstances of the current Spanish campaign have turned exporting oranges to China into a truly challenging task. This was explained by Juan Motilla, commercial director of Motilla, a Valencian company which was the first to export oranges to China after the protocol was approved in 2013. Not only that. Its Motilla brand has actually consolidated as a leading name in this market, winning the IFC award for best brand imported into China in 2017.
"The current citrus season has so far been really difficult. It is true that, overall, the Spanish harvest is not meeting its expectations, commercially speaking. Not only have there been delays affecting all varieties, there have also been considerably smaller sizes and problems with the fruit's internal quality. As a result, not as much fruit as desired is suitable for fresh marketing. In many cases, if no adequate selection is carried out, the fruit cannot reach distant markets, such as China, with the desired quality," explains Juan Motilla.
The exporter stresses that "China is an extremely complex market" and that some operators have not assessed the risks involved. "In addition to several exporters, there are also some intermediaries who have shipped the maximum amount of citrus possible to this market without first studying it and becoming familiar with it. As a result, a lot of goods arrived in poor condition, causing serious damage to the reputation of the Spanish production; an image that companies like ours have been building for the last 6 years. In this campaign, for example, we know that the ineptitude of some intermediaries has caused huge losses to various Spanish packers. So much so, that there are several cases of companies with a long export tradition that have been going through great difficulties. Fortunately, this has not affected us, as that market knows our brand well."
In any case, according to Juan Motilla, the availability of domestic citrus in China is even higher than last year, when it had already grown compared to the previous one, further limiting the gap for imports. However, there are even greater concerns about the supply of oranges from Egypt, which has been growing at a massive rate in recent years.
"Egyptian citrus is rapidly gaining ground every year in China, and it is sold at substantially lower prices than ours. Last year, between 5,000 and 6,000 containers were imported, and it all points to even further growth in the coming years. For now, it stands out mostly due to its price, but Egyptian exporters are working hard to improve the quality of their fruit," says Motilla.
Regarding the diplomatic conflict between China and the United States, which is an important player in this citrus market, the exporter doesn't believe that the issue will have an impact on Spanish exports, as "things could be solved again at any time."
Given all these circumstances, Juan Motilla points out that "this year, people are more cautious and the volumes so far have halved. Taking all factors into account, I believe that this trend will continue."
