Exports to the US still restricted
Argentina would increase lemon production, but more for processing than for exports

Barranquilla - According to a report by the USDA, Argentine lemon production for 2007 has been 1.25 million tons, this is a reduction of 7% with respect to 2006. Small size growers with lower fruit quality could provide only to the industry and had to exit the market as a consequence of the lower prices of lemons in the industrial sector. However, new plantations entered the market and compensated the reduction with increasing yields. One of the major problems confronted by the frost in July was the accelerated process of ripening and the shortening of the campaign. Different sources claim a shortage of lemons of summer for domestic consumption this year.

For 2008, expectations are better and production is expected to increase to 1.4 million tons thanks to better yields and management. According to sources in the industry, small size growers rented their unused lands and more efficient growers are now improving yields. The increase of production will be mirrored more in the processing than in exports. While lemon for processing will increase to a million tons (from 850,000), exports will be reduced from 360,000 to 350,000 tons. Domestic consumption will keep the level of 40,000 tons, according to the same sources.

While Argentina could potentially export 60,000 tons to the USA per year, it has not exported any lemons to the US since 2001, due to phytosanitary issues. The US phytosanitary agency in charge of reviewing and defining phytosanitary import requirements, APHIS, is presently assessing the situation in Argentina too. In a recent document listing illnesses and diseases affecting lemons in the region of Tucumán, the fruit fly has been introduced, much to the surprise of Argentinean growers and exporters. This would implicate that lemons will be required to undergo a cold treatment, which they generally do not support very well, where the final fruit quality is concerned.

Publication date: 11/19/2007
Author: Jahir Lombana