World Citrus Organisation (WCO) presents annual Northern Hemisphere production forecast

The WCO Secretariat has released its first crop production forecast for the forthcoming NorthernHemisphere citrus season 2020-21. The preliminary forecast is collected from industry associations inEgypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States (California and Florida).

The preliminary forecast shows that the 2020-21 citrus Northern Hemisphere crop is expected to reach28.737.570 T, which represents a decrease of slight decrease of 1% compared to the 2019 crop. Thisdecreased volume is the result of alternance in some countries compared to last year, as well as the impact of the droughts recorded in several production regions in the Northern Hemisphere.By citrus categories, most categories showed decreases in production. Orange is expected to decrease by 2%, lemon by 7% and grapefruit by 9%. The only category increasing production volumes compared to the previous year is soft citrus (+5%). Looking at production by region, European production is expected to experience an increase in volume, with 12% increases recorded for both Italy and Spain, respectively, and a 1% decrease for Greece. In the Southern rim of the Mediterranean, crop forecasts for Egypt (-8%), Israel (- 4%) and Turkey (-15%) have been lowered compared to 2019 volumes. On the other hand, Morocco and Tunisia forecast increases in their citrus crops this year, by 13% and 20% respectively compared to 2019 figures. On its side, the United States production is expected to decrease by 9% compared to the precedent year, with California lowering its forecast by 5% and Florida by 14%.
WCO will tomorrow present this forecast during the first edition of the Global Citrus Congress. The Congress with an expected attendance of more than 1.000 delegates will be the perfect opportunity to presents these latest global production figures and trade trends, as well as the importance of sustainability in citrus production and of nutrition and promotion to increase global citrus consumption. More information and last-minute registration is available on citruscongress.com.

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