Japanese fresh orange imports decreased 16.3 percent to 72,000 MT during MY 2021/22. Industry contacts attribute this decline in orange imports to the following factors that reduced U.S. orange exports:
less production in the United States,
greater logistical costs,
depreciation of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar.
As the price of U.S. oranges rose, some importers sought alternative suppliers and began to import Turkish oranges. In light of improvements in the first two challenges described above in MY 2022/23, FAS/Tokyo estimates U.S. orange exports will increase 20.7 percent to 35,000 MT and Japan’s overall orange imports will recover to 80,000 MT or up 11.1 percent from MY 2021/22.
In MY 2021/22, for the first time in recent years, the United States was not the top supplier by volume of the Japanese orange market. Australia supplied 51.4 percent or 37, 018 MT of Japan’s imported orange market, while the United States supplied 40.3 percent or 29,030 MT.
There is no direct competition between U.S. and Australian oranges due to different seasons. On the other hand, the 3,991 MT of Turkish oranges entered Japan during the typical U.S. orange season. Japanese importers anticipate the volume of Turkish orange imports will increase further at the expense of the U.S. market share in MY 2022/23.
Exports
Japanese orange exports remain negligible (14 MT) in MY 2021/22, and FAS/Tokyo forecasts the same export volume in MY 2022/23.
