See photos
The upward trend of citrus fruits prices may be interrupted in December. Even if orange availability continues limited, higher supply of other fruits that are usually consumed during the holiday season has weakened demand for citrus in São Paulo State since late November. This scenario may be observed for the whole month.
Besides competition with other fruits, orange has been traded at nominal record levels, which limits demand. In December, the supply of fruits out of the ideal period and leaf wilt, a type of late orange appreciated in the in naturamarket, may also increase. In this scenario, some growers believe the market will warm up only from January onward.
In November, the citrus market was on the rise. Most part of the month, limited supply of pear oranges led some growers to trade the fruit above 40.00 BRL per 40.8-kilo box, on tree, price level that heartened citrus growers. Thus, the average price in that period was 34.66 BRL per box, 8% up compared to October/16 and a staggering 112% compared to November/15 – a new nominal record at Cepea series, which started in 1994.
Tahiti lime prices continue at high levels, although higher supply of smaller-sized fruits limited new price rises in November. In that month, tahiti lime quotes averaged 58.45 BRL per 27-kilo box, harvested, 27% down compared to October, but 11% higher than in November/15. In 2016, except for January, the monthly averages of tahiti lime were records for the period.
Source: Hortifruti/Cepea
