The Southern Hemishere's exports of 'easy peeler' fruit such as mandarins, clementines and their hybrids are set to fall 10% this season to 366,100 metric tons (MT), according to forecasts by market researcher iQonsulting.

The sharpest fall is expected in Argentina with a drop of 34.46% to 80,000M, followed by Uruguay with a 24.59% decline to 43,100MT.

But apart from Argentina and Uruguay the rest of the Southern Hemisphere is expecting increased shipments, with largest exporter South Africa likely to record a slight rise of 5.63% to 112,500MT.

IQonsulting has forecast a 15% rise to 45,573MT for Chile, a 2.43% increase to 60,000MT for Peru while Australia's shipments are set to rise 9.87% to 25,000MT.

Argentina

Argentina's mandarin harvest began at the end of March with the Okitsu variety and is expected to go until the end of August with the Murcott variety.

The clementine season began in May with the Nova variety, while up until week 22 (Jun. 3) the season was 50% complete and the mandarin season had progressed 70%.

The decline in expected exports is mainly due to low rainfall levels in citrus-growing zones, along with lower flowering and smaller sizes that couldn't be exported.

Until week 24 (Jun. 17) Argentina's easy peeler exports stood at 41,400MT.

Chile

Chile's clementine harvest started during the third week of April with several orchards still in full harvest in week 24 (Jun.10). Clementine harvests have risen between 10% and 15%, which is largely due to alternate bearing.

Fortune and Murcott mandarins are expected for harvest at the end of July, while total exports until week 24 (Jun. 17) were 6,800MT.

Peru

Peru's satsuma and Owary variety harvests finished in week 24 (Jun. 17), paving the way for the start of Minneolas variety harvests.

Peru's mandarin harvests started later than normal this year due to a season that began with insufficient cold hours to promote flowering.

The slight rise in exports this season is due more to the addition of new orchard in productive areas, while mandarin sizes have been smaller.

South Africa

South Africa's production of easy peelers was affected by heavy rains during the period of fruit formation, leading to smaller size satsumas in particular.

In terms of clementines, low production levels affected many growers which led to profitability concerns. Until week 24 (Jun. 17), South Africa had exported 49,500MT of easy peelers with the U.K. as the main destination.

Uruguay

Uruguay's easy peeler harvests were stalled during week 24 (Jun. 17) due to strong rains which meant laborers were not able to pick the fruit. The clementine harvest finished, with the last Nova and Satsuma volumes.

It's expected the Furel variety harvest will start soon, followed by the Murcott and Ortanique varieties. Uruguay's mandarin harvest has advanced between 30% and 35% with no reports of size problems to date.

The country has exported 26,800MT so far, representing 62% of total forecats for the season.

iQonsulting/ edited by www.freshfruitportal.com