Spain is making the most of its ambitious national citrus plan, put together to tackle the challenges faced by the sector from "alarming under-capitalisation", variety conversion and competition. However, in recent weeks, a number of representatives from the industry have spoken out about what needs to change to being the sector back on to its feet.
At the same time, growers and exporters from a number of citrus sources are pulling out all the stops to make the most of their offer and increase sendings to the UK, in the face of a number of well-documented challenges.
According to Valencia-based producers' association Ava-Asaja, the European Commission and the Spanish national government have so far failed to understand the gravity of two citrus diseases threatening the Spanish sector, black dot and greening.
The association's studies of official figures have found that of the 94 consignments of imported citrus intercepted for disease problems in the EU last year, 71 of them had evidence of black spot and were rejected. The body is concerned that there are no protocols in place should citrus greening appear in the Mediterranean region, despite the discovery of the insect responsible for its spread in the Canary Islands and its presence in the US, in Florida and California.
Another blow to the Spanish sector came when it was revealed that sales of citrus rootstocks in the country are plummeting, putting the future of growers and exporters into question. According to a growers' association in Valencìa, figures from the regional executive show that uptake from the region - which accounts for 80 per cent of citrus rootstocks marketed in Spain - fell for the third year to 1.93 million trees in 2008-09, compared to 4.81m on average each year from 2000 to 2006.
However, the obstacles facing the citrus sector are not confined to Europe, as the Florida citrus grapefruit season has been knocked by a "major freeze", which has tightened supply and firmed up prices in recent weeks. The latest crop revision this month forecasted that volumes will reach 19.5m boxes, rather than the 19.8m predicted in October last year, because the fruit was not sizing up as expected and the droppage rate had been underestimated.
However, since the cold temperatures struck, the sector will have to wait until the next crop revision on February 9 to know more about how the freeze has affected the crop.
"Obviously, prices have firmed up since the freeze," says an insider. "I expect pricing to be higher this year when compared to last year. Until the freeze, I would have said the market was stable, with adequate returns for importers and exporters."
In fact, the supply challenges and the impact of the freeze both this season and next year have overshadowed other concerns, such as the wider impact of the economic downturn and its effect on demand.
"There has been some economic impact on sales of produce, but I don't believe it is as much as some people originally thought," says an exporter. "Supply is our major concern right now and the main issue facing the sector in the next three months will be the assessment of the freeze damage, as it affects this year's crop as well as next season's crop. In some areas, the freeze damaged not only the fruit, but also the tree.
"Tree damage could affect next year's crop in terms of the tree's ability to set a bloom. Obviously, a reduced bloom-set will mean a smaller crop for next year."
However, it has not been all bad news for the citrus sector and some newer sources are aiming to continue moving from strength to strength.
The Turkish citrus sector, for example, is enjoying increased sendings and more interest from the UK market.
Evren Hüner from exporter Aksun claims the last three months have been "very pleasing to say the least", especially on lemons and satsumas, which finished with a 30 per cent increase on last season.
"There is no slowing down at this time of the season," he continues. "Interest in lemons, grapefruit and now minneolas is still very strong. And looking at demand, we can easily say we have got the pricing right this season, even though we are still being forced into negotiations, but that has always been the case.
"This season, Turkish citrus has made a solid entrance to the market," he adds.

SOURCE: FRESHINFO