Data from "Agroseguro" shows that up to the 10th of January, citrus fruit producers policy holders reported 8,800 declarations of citrus damage that affect a total of 20,827 parcels in a damaged area of 17,221 hectares.
Regarding prices, producers lamented that, at the beginning of the campaign, they got prices between 0,80 and 0,90 cents per kilo at point of sale, a level that they consider to be "ruinous". As for citrus exports, the frequency of shipments is normal and companies are finding a "good receptiveness" despite the crisis, according to sector sources.
According to data from the Spanish External Commerce Institute (ICEX), by the end of December the first Spanish citrus fruit was sent to Russia from Puerto de Castelln. Valencia Community is the main supplier for that country. In Murcia, producers also lamented the effect of the frost and warned that at the moment the situation is "very complicated", even if at the beginning of the season very good prices were achieved for the citrus fruit.
They added that minimal production costs are not covered and this goes also for the lemon very damaged in this campaign by the strong competition from countries like Argentina and Turkey. In Spain, the main producer from the Mediterranean basin expects a citrus production for this campaign of 5.9 million tons, which means a rise of 9% regarding last season.
At the Valencia Community, the first producing region, it's predicted a capacity of 3.5 million tons; in Andalusia, a million and a half tons; and in Murcia, it's predicted to go to 573,210 tons, according to estimates from the councils of the sector at the start of the season.
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