According to the latest estimates, Spain produced 7.045 million tonnes of citrus in the 2020/2021 campaign, i.e. 12.6% more than in the 2019/2020 campaign and 6.2% more than the average of the previous five campaigns, ranking as the fourth-highest harvest. In the domestic market, there was an 11% increase in mandarin consumption.

Exports until June totalled 3.6 million tonnes, with a value of almost 3,400 million euro, i.e. 7.1% higher than the average of the last five seasons. The commercial balance is very positive, 3,208 million euro, with a coverage rate of 2.1%.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) has made public its forecast for the 2021/2022 citrus campaign. Spain will produce 6.705 million tonnes of citrus, 4 8% less than in the previous season and 2.1% less than the average of the last five years. The greatest decrease in absolute terms will occur in small citrus fruits, and in percentage terms in lemon, which were the types of citrus that had the biggest increase in production in the past season. Grapefruit, on the other hand, will grow significantly, while the volume of oranges will remain stable (+ 0.4%).

The country will produce 3,511,079 tonnes of oranges, which will account for 52.4% of the total citrus production, and 73% of the oranges produced will correspond to the Navel group. The production of small citrus fruits will rise to 2,083,000 tonnes, accounting for 31% of the total. 51% of the small citrus produced will be clementine.

According to the Ministry’s forecast, the country will harvest 1,011,458 tonnes of lemons (15% of the total production) and 84,010 tons of grapefruit (1.25%). In addition, Spain will produce 11,197 tonnes of other citrus fruits (including bitter orange), which will account for 0.17% of all citrus production. FreshPlaza