Southern African Citrus

CITRUS GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION

• Established in 1997 after deregulation• Members are all citrus growers in South

Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe• Main focus is research and market access• Other focus areas include transformation,

information, market development and logistics

• Have representatives in Washington, Brussels and Moscow

386 registered exporters moving 2.5 million tonnes of fruit per year to 70 countries around the world

Export value of nearly $2 billion , with industry employing 465 000 people full time with 2

million dependents

Fruit is 50% of agricultural exports accounting for 1.5% of the country’s GDP

Market Distribution

USA 2.7%

South America

UK 12%N&S Europe 38%

Middle East 17%

Japan 6%

South East Asia 9%

Australia

E Europe & Russia 12%

Africa 1.1%

Canada 2%

China 0.2%

Exports by ProductPRODUCT %

VALENCIAS 47

NAVELS 23.1

GRAPEFRUIT 12.6

LEMONS 9.7

SOFT CITRUS 7.6

Strengths of Southern African Citrus

• Well managed food safety environment• Excellent plant health record• Quality assurance• Spread of products • Long supply season• Excellent logistics infrastructure• Institutional memory and knowledge

Major destination ports of RSA fruit(34 Ports = 1,4m pallets)

PORT PALLETS (X 1000)

ROTTERDAM 219

ST PETERSBURG 176

JEBEL ALI 135

VLISSINGEN 94

TILBURY 76

HONG KONG 52

JEDDAH 42

PHILADELPHIA 38

TOKYO 38

DAMMAM 35

Challenges in the Russian Market

• Perishable nature of our products• Infrastructure – cold stores at ports• Credit guarantees• Competition (northern and southern

hemisphere)• Swaziland/Mocambican/Zimbabwe

documentation and trade agreements• Developing contacts• Visa formalities

THANK YOU