JOHANNESBURG - Demand for lemons from overseas markets has doubled so far this year compared with the same period in 2019, with 4.5 million cartons having been shipped to date, the Citrus Growers Association Of Southern Africa said on Monday.
It however warned that the Covid-19 global pandemic, which has forced South Africa, like numerous other countries around the world, to enforce a lockdown to try and arrest the spread of the virus, could threaten business continuity.
In a statement, the association's chief executive Justin Chadwick said the lemon shipments so far this year were in comparison with 1.8 million cartons over the same period in 2019, with 64 percent going to the Middle East, while Russian shipments had increased from nine percent to 12 percent.
Shipping of soft citrus, at 424,000 cartons to date, as well as grapefruit at 411,000 cartons, were similar to the previous year's exports at this time.
"As South Africa moves into its fourth week of a national lockdown, the citrus industry continues to focus on ensuring consumers have access to fresh citrus fruit while safeguarding the health of its workers," Chadwick said.
Citrus Growers Association Of Southern Africa (CGA) chief executive Justin Chadwick. File photo: CGA website
"However, we acknowledge that these unprecedented times could threaten business continuity, which is why the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) has established a Covid-19 response committee."
He said the committee would identify risks and opportunities arising from the pandemic and national lockdown and develop plans to address them.
It had met for the first time last week and identified a number of risks that could affect the current export season, including operational and efficiency issues at ports, the health and safety of workers, transporting of workers to farms and citrus to ports, ensuring business continuity of supporting industries, obtaining necessary documentation for exports, the continuation of fruit inspection services as well as the cost and availability of ships.
The CGA was working closely with various stakeholders including government departments, organised agriculture and the Covid-19 national joint command centre to mitigate these risks, said Chadwick.
Staff shortages and labour protests had affected operations at ports in Cape Town and Durban over the past few weeks. A back-up of non-essential containers that had not been moved or unpacked had also caused bottle-necks at ports.
"We welcome the steps taken to increase staff capacity at all ports as well as recent amendments to the Disaster Management Act regulations to allow for the movement of both essential and non-essential cargo at ports," Chadwick said.
"Despite these risks, we remain cautiously optimistic when it comes to the current export season."