South Africa had a record-breaking 2020 export season that delivered 146 million cartons of citrus to the rest of the world .
This makes the country the second largest exporter of fresh citrus in the world after Spain, Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA), said on Monday.
CGA CEO Justin Chadwick said in March that they predicted that export volumes would reach 143 million cartons of the fruit but it surpassed the target in the end.
“This record-breaking export season follows the gazetting of the new citrus export levy from last month, which we believe will enable the citrus industry to grow its global market share even further through reinvesting grower funds into research, market access and transformation,’’ he said.
Chadwick said the citrus industry achieved phenomenal growth through collaborations with the government.
“As a result, we hope to create even more jobs and bring in increased revenue for the country’s economy over the next four years,’’he said, adding that they want to increase exports by 300,000 tons over the next three years.
“The growth projections for soft citrus, lemons and Valencia oranges alone indicate an expected additional 453 million U.S. dollars in foreign exchange earnings and the creation of 22,250 sustainable jobs over the next three years.
“We are looking forward to playing our part in rebuilding the economy and putting South Africa back on a strong financial footing,’’ he said.
Chadwick said they would like to expand access to key markets such as China, EU, India and U.S.