Harvest SA 85
Taking stock of citrus Final export figures of highly challenging season
Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa
Southern African citrus growers packed 201 million 15kg cartons for export in the 2026 season. This is 1.5% below the 204 million cartons packed in 2025, and 4% below the original estimate of 209.4 million made in April before the season began.
“Volumes only tell one part of the story. This has been a very tough season. Nearly every risk factor facing our industry materialised, including a war in one of our biggest markets, the Middle East,” said Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele, CEO of the CGA. “Growers in most produc-tion areas achieved excellent yields on farm, but the conditions under which the fruit was exported tested every link in the chain. We must take every lesson offered by this highly unprofitable season and act decisively as an industry in order to avoid a repeat in future. Our growers and the approximately 160 000 farm-level jobs they protect simply cannot afford it.”
The 2026 season was shaped by several factors, which included:
• Limited access to shipping capacity into the Middle East and a shortage of containers for all markets. Some ports were not safely accessible, and those that were, faced heavy congestion. Key markets such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia could often only be reached via extremely long shipping routes.• Sharply increased shipping and farm-level input costs. The diesel price proved especially punishing.• A marked downturn in overseas consumers' spending power, especially in the middle-class market, which forms the core of our citrus consumers. Key markets such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia could often only be reached via extremely long shipping routes. • Sharply increased shipping and farm-level input costs.
• Flooding across the Western and Eastern Cape, with some orchards destroyed.• Higher rainfall, which produced a larger proportion of big fruit just as the market demanded smaller sizes.• Rain-related quality issues in some regions, amid growers having fewer crop protection tools to fight decay, as many treatments have been phased out globally under regulatory pressure.• A narrowed supply window into Europe, mainly caused by a large, long-lasting Egyptian orange crop which often competed on price rather than quality.• Logistics backlogs, particularly at the Port of Durban, resulting in disrupted shipping and ultimately missed market supply windows.• A relatively strong rand, which diminished returns for growers.• A number of the factors above combined to cause a significant mismatch between supply and demand in some critical markets. When fruit misses a key market window, costs remain while its value falls sharply. With so much of the cost of getting citrus to consumers incurred after packing, every carton that arrives misaligned with prevailing market conditions and requirements erodes returns exponentially.A breakdown of our citrus variety groups shows the following results:
• Lemons reached 51 million cartons, 23% more than in 2025 and 11% above the original estimate. It was the only variety that saw an increase in export volumes this year. • Mandarins totalled 50.7 million cartons, 5% below 2025 and 4% below the original estimate. Nadorcott/Tango, the largest group at 29.8 million cartons, finished 3% below the estimate. Clementines (5.2 million) and Leanri (2.2 million) were both 16% short. Novas (5.7 million, +2%) and Orri (2.6 million, +6%) finished ahead of the estimate as young orchards came into bearing. • Valencia Oranges reached 58.8 million cartons, 5% below 2025 and 7% below the estimate. Crop projections were revised downward throughout the season. Large fruit sizes clashed with 22
📊 • Mandarins totalled 50.7 million cartons, 5% below 2025 and 4% below the original estimate.
market demand for smaller fruit, and growers and exporters applied stricter standards, choosing not to pack marginal specification fruit.• Navel Oranges reached 25.2 million cartons, 20% below 2025 and 16% below the estimate. In some areas, heavy rain affected the quality and taste profile of early and mid-season fruit.• Grapefruit remained on the same export level as 2025 at 13.5 million 17kg cartons, but 14% below the April estimate. Processing-grade volumes shipped predominantly to China rose substantially.“While South African citrus production remains on the increase, this sea-son’s difficulties arose from a wide-ranging combination of pressures. In the medium term most concerns remain, especially regarding the Middle East, but in the longer term the industry’s fundamentals have not changed. It remains well positioned to keep supplying high-quality fruit to the Northern Hemisphere during its summer months,” said Gerrit van der Merwe, Chairperson of the CGA.
“We acknowledge the hardship growers have faced this season, and we remain committed to supporting them. Now is the time to take stock, stand together, and chart a clear path to safeguarding the future of South Africa’s citrus,” said Dr Ntshabele.
He added that a core lesson of 2026 is that the industry must achieve a closer match between what it supplies and what markets demand, by market, specification, and timing.
Looking towards the future, through collective action the CGA will focus on a number of industry-level interventions. It will place more focus on business intelligence. Better, more timely data on market demand, spe-cifications and timing can enable growers, exporters, and value chain partners to plan packing and shipments against genuine demand.
The CGA will press for more reliable port and marine logistics. Fruit can only meet demand if it arrives when and where it is needed, so the CGA will work with shipping companies and logistics partners to secure depend-able capacity, schedules, and routes for growers.
In focus
He added that a core lesson of 2026 is that the industry must achieve a closer match between what it supplies and what markets demand, by market, specification, and timing.
The CGA will also consider industry marketing initiatives in key countries, building on its current marketing investment in India.
“The consumer landscape globally is ever changing and we can no longer assume that a demand for our citrus fruits that existed for genera-tions will simply remain there indefinitely. We will pursue workstreams that enable the type of growth that is sustainable and anchored in genuine market demand,” said Dr Ntshabele.
He emphasised that the industry’s potential can be realised if government took a leading role in two critical areas. Action on improved market access and improved logistics are two essential ingredients to the industry’s success. Port backlogs and a severely under-utilised rail network com-pound difficulties. Progress on improved and scientifically justified access to markets, together with the negotiation of lower or no tariffs in key markets, will help sustain citrus as the key economic pillar it is in many rural communities.
Dr Ntshabele highlighted the European Union’s imposition of unscientific and unnecessary trade measures as well as tariffs impeding exports to India. The loss of the United States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) will also be a blow to the industry, especially to growers in the Western and Northern Cape.
EXPORTS
A serious blow: The loss of AGOA will hit citrus hard
The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) views the announced intent to exclude South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as a serious blow to the citrus industry.
"This will be a loss not just for us, but the US consumer will lose too. Citrus trade between SA and the US has always been mutually beneficial. Our citrus is comple-mentary to their production. Our fruit helps keep American consumers in the citrus category during the US off-season. Seasonal fresh produce does not threaten US jobs. It helps keep America healthy, and also helps contain food infla-tion," said Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele, the CEO of the CGA.
It helps keep America healthy, and also helps contain food infla-tion," said Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele, the CEO of the CGA.
AGOA is particularly significant for growers in the Western and Northern Cape, where entire communities depend on SA-US trade, with Citrusdal a clear example of how an entire town’s economy is directly tied to compet-itive access to the US market.
"A citrus grower cannot simply divert his crop to another market – markets have different phytosanitary require-ments and consumer tastes. Entire orchards have been planted specifically for the US market. Our exclusion from AGOA will result in job losses in the Western and Northern Cape. It is too early to say how many, but some people will unfortunately lose their jobs when this happens," said CGA Chairman Gerrit van der Merwe.
Losing AGOA exposes South African citrus exports to the applicable US rate of duty, generally between 1.5 and 2.5 US cents per kilogram, depending on product and timing. The challenge is compounded by the additional 12.5% Section 301 tariff, which is applicable to all citrus varieties apart from Oranges. Oranges have been exempted of tariffs since November 2025, but, without AGOA the US rate of duty applies on SA Oranges.
The loss of AGOA means, however, that the exporters of Mandarins, Lemons and Grapefruit will face both the Section 301 tariff and the normal rate of duty. This would place them at a severe disadvantage to competitors like Peru and Chile, who benefit from trade agreements as well as shorter transit times.
The US citrus market has been built over decades through strong commercial relationships. Thousands of people in the United States are employed in importing, handling, distribution and retail because of South African citrus. That entire value chain, on both sides of the Atlantic, is now under threat.
This is another setback for an industry that has already been hit hard in 2026 by the conflict in the Middle East, high input costs and adverse weather.
"One hopes that a future bilateral agreement between SA and the US will acknowledge the unique place sea-sonal fresh produce holds in world trade," concluded Ntshabele.
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This is another setback for an industry that has already been hit hard in 2026 by the conflict in the Middle East, high input costs and adverse weather.
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