Higher production and an earlier start to the export campaign have helped lift Peru's expected citrus shipments by 18.6% this season, according to the latest forecast revealed by the Peruvian Citrus Growers Association (ProCitrus).

ProCitrus general manager Sergio del Castillo told www.freshfruitportal.com exports would likely hit 115,000 metric tons (MT) by the end of the season in September.

This figure is 7.5% higher than the forecast registered in a citrus teleconference between the Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters (SHAFFE) and the European Fresh Produce Association (Freshfel) last month. The growth rate also beats rough forecasts in February by more than eight percentage points.

Del Castillo said the country exported 70% more mandarins year-on-year in the first three months of the season between February and April, while a slight increase of 6% was seen for lemons.

"The reason is that last year the export season started late because prices in the local market were very good," del Castillo said.

"If we look at the figures, almost nothing was exported until late March last year. This year by late March we already had a significant increase in exports, and as the season runs this percentage will be reduced.

When asked about markets, the industry leader said he was hoping Peru would be able to send satsumas to Japan next year, but that all depended on the Japanese authorities.

"Japanese specialists are currently in Peru conducting evaluations of the studies that have been done with varieties around the issue of fruit fly, and in the coming months we should have a positive final report, which would lead to starting the stage of modifying Japanese law to allow access for satsumas or mandarins in general in that market," he said.

The industry is also working on a quality seal for tangelos, with a pilot trial expected this year.

"Effectively we are doing a form of quality seal with the view of establishing it at the start of next year, and this year we will simply do some inspection tests to see how the seal works operationally."

China talks

Del Castillo added that negotiations were also underway with Chinese authorities to try and improve Peru's citrus export protocol. He said current requirements called for 18 days of cold treatment at 1°C (33.8°F) to mitigate fruit flies, but the industry would like to have the regulations set at 23 days at the slightly warmer temperature of 3°C (37.4°F).

"One degree versus three degrees is a huge difference," he told www.freshfruitportal.com, adding that the lower temperature often meant fruit was damaged by the time it got to China.

He said the main varieties exported to China were W. murcotts, also known as nadorcotts, as well as minneolas.

The industry leader expected China-bound shipments would be up 20-25% on last year's 270 metric tons (MT).

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