AFTER almost a century of exports the South African citrus industry has now, albeit temporarily perhaps, become the second biggest exporter in the world. While it is still far behind Spain, South Africa has moved ahead of the US due to the fact that US citrus exports have been adversely affected by various factors. South African citrus exports dominate the Southern Hemisphere window, with one out of every two citrus fruits being sold in this period originating from this origin. The country currentlyexports around 1.075m tonnes of citrus annually. The latest international production data shows that Spain and the US are the only other citrus-export ing countries that exceed the 1m-tonne mark, with Spain by far the biggest shipperat more than 3.25m tonnes.
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