Mixed Peel market report, July 2022

The orange harvest decreased from 35% to 40% in Italy due to the unfavourable weather conditions that negatively affected the orange groves during the flowering and fruit swelling phases.

From a qualitative point of view, the product is excellent, and the offer is also satisfactory in size. Even in EU countries, the harvest was not abundant (6.1 million tons, 6% less than in the previous campaign). This will necessarily translate into an increase in prices.

This decrease is also due to another factor: the national citrus sector is heavily penalized by the limits inherent in its structure. The production chain is concentrated in a few geographical areas, with two-thirds of oranges produced in three regions of South Italy. The excessive fragmentation of the farm network (the average size of citrus farms is 3 hectares) and the persistence of not very modern and rational systems result in lower productivity.

The outcome of the crop we got was a decrease of the fruit and consequently of the peel of about 40% less, while the lemon crop has kept its harvest on the standard production, with no relevant effect on the quantity.

There is also another factor to take into the analysis: Glucose Syrup. There’s a prediction of an increase of euro to 17% per MT starting from 1st August 2022. The new crop, in fact, is inconsistent, and producers are putting limits on the sales due to a massive cost increase. They are not taking any commitments yet with the extra quantities they’ve contracted already.