The peak season of citrus export in South Africa has arrived. Although the forecast of total output has been slightly adjusted compared with that of the previous quarter, the country is still expected to usher in another record export season. This year's production is expected to exceed last year's record of 100 million cases. It is estimated that by the end of the citrus season in December, the country will export about 160.8 million cases of citrus.
Several soft citrus varieties and grapefruit are the main export products of early maturing citrus. Justin Chadwick, a spokesman for the citrus growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA), said half of grapefruit production has been packaged and so far this season is going well. South Africa also packaged 30 million cases of lemons and exported 10 million of them.
Faced with such a large export volume this season, Chadwick said that the South African industry must innovate and use all available transportation methods to meet new logistics challenges. The use of conventional refrigerated ships to supply Asia and Europe, and the establishment of a comprehensive US supply plan will play an important role. The first batch of conventional refrigerated vessels has now arrived at ports in Japan and China. Industry insiders said that the joint shipment plan to China, Japan and South Korea once again achieved great success.