Australia: Citrus Annual

Early seasonal conditions for the MY 2024/25 citrus crop have been very favorable. Along with expansion in production area, growers anticipate an improvement in production and the prospect of high-quality fruit production. Orange production is expected to increase five percent to 545,000 metric tons (MT) from the prior’s year estimate, the highest over the last two decades. Tangerine/mandarin production is forecast to reach a record 225,000 MT. Orange exports are forecast to reach the third-highest output on record of 190,000 MT, and tangerine/mandarin exports are expected to reach a new record of 105,000 MT for MY 2024/25. Orange juice production is forecast to fall by two percent to 15,000 MT, mainly due to the anticipated improvement of fresh (navel) orange fruit quality. In contrast, imports are forecast to recover to 13,000 MT after falling from a lack of supply due to a severe drought impacting production in Brazil.