Spain sees Egypt as a threat to its citrus exports

Spain is worried that Egyptian plans to cultivate desert land will lead to a sharp rise in citrus exports and threaten Spain’s dominance as a supplier over the next few years, Maura Maxwell writes for Eurofruit. An umbrella group for Spain’s private citrus producers, called the Citrus Management Committee, says Egyptian exports have increased by 66% in the last five year and growth is set to accelerate. “Unlike counterseasonal suppliers to the EU like South Africa, Egypt’s harvest coincides with Spanish production, with the bulk of its volume being shipped to the EU between January and April.” Already, Egypt has overtaken Turkey and Morocco in terms of sales volume to the EU, the report notes. “Egypt has also benefited from the Russian veto on European agricultural products by filling the gap left by the absence of Spanish oranges on that market,” the committee added.