ORLANDO, Fla., - Chilean citrus exports to the U.S. grew at double-digit rates in 2018, says Juan Enrique Ortúzar, chairman of the Chilean Citrus Committee.
The import season for Chilean citrus is concluding at the time of Fresh Summit, with easy-peelers finishing up in late October and early November. Navels are supplied from June through October or so and lemons are shipped to the U.S. from May through October.
“Our season matches really well with the U.S.,” Ortúzar says, noting that 90% of Chile’s mandarins are shipped to the U.S. market.
“It is pretty much the same varieties (as the U.S. grows) so that makes it very in high demand and it keeps growing,” he says.
On average, he says Chilean citrus exports to the U.S. this year have been up 30%.
Chilean clementine and mandarin exports grew from about 110,000 metric tons in 2017 to about 165,000 metric tons this year.
Chilean navel shipments to the U.S. — representing about 90% of all Chile’s navel exports — will show about a 12% increase compared with a year ago, and lemon shipments are projected to be 10% higher.
The U.S. takes about 50% to 60% of Chile’s lemon exports.
With strong demand from world markets, some growers continue to plant more, Ortúzar says.
Consolidation is not a trend so far with the citrus sector.
“I think at this stage, we’re getting more exporters of citrus, more new growers, more new exporters because there has been a lot of interest,” he says. For crops like stone fruit and grapes, there is not much potential for growth in demand compared with citrus, he says.
He says that, over time, the industry will consolidate, but for now the citrus sector is attracting new players for going on a decade.
Ortúzar says Chilean growers will experience challenges in the years ahead.
“Chile is becoming more expensive to grow, and our labor costs are going higher — our labor availability is lower — I think growers have to be much more efficient in the future, with more mechanization and increased yields,” he says. The risk of increasing competition also is real, he says.
“Peru is planting a lot of mandarins, Chile is planting more mandarins, so I think eventually we might clash,” he said. Uruguay is expanding citrus output, Argentina lemons now have access to the U.S., and South African navel shipments to the U.S are growing, he says.
“There’s going to be more competition in the U.S. market and so I think part of the challenge is to open up new markets, to continue opening up new markets, to diversify and offer new varieties to new markets,” he says. “It is hard to foresee that we will continue growing indefinitely just on the U.S. market; to continue growing we need to expand to other markets as well.”
The citrus disease Huanglongbing (HLB) is another potential challenge that can’t be underestimated, he says.
“We must not assume that we will be so lucky that we will never get it,” he says. “We must prepare for it in terms of vigilance and surveying — and preparing in case it enters,” he says.
