Spain's Citrus Management Committee (CGC) expects this season's volume will be similar to the 2014-15 campaign at 7.088 million metric tons (MT), but a historic low level of rainfall means sizing and the amount of fruit that can be sold in the fresh market will be affected. 

In a release, the group said the tonnage to be sold fresh will be slightly lower than the estimates due to three main factors - drought, a reduction in tree thinning and a wide margin over last season for raising the volume destined for juicing.

The latter is expected to take some congestion out of the fresh citrus market.

On a more positive note, the CGC said oranges and mandarins would be of "exceptional quality" in light of sampling studies undertaken by the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA) and inspection organization Soivre to assess acidity and sugar levels.

The research has shown high juice content in the fruit.

The CGC represents growers in Valencia, Andalusia and Murcia, and in the release the organization noted the Catalonian industry was absent from the assessment due to budgetary constraints.

Of the total, 2.4 million MT will be in mandarins, 3.6 million in sweet oranges, 943,945MT in lemons, 12,927MT in bitter oranges and 7,827MT in the category 'other citrus'.

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