Conditions of Competition for Certain Oranges and Lemons in the U.S. Fresh Market

摘要

The competitive environment in the global market for fresh oranges and lemons has changedsignificantly in recent years. A variety of factors have contributed to an increasinglycompetitive situation faced by the U.S. industry with respect to major foreign suppliers.Demand for fresh oranges and lemons in developed markets has leveled off with a shifttoward processed products, while consumption in developing markets is increasing asincomes rise. As a result, several large producing countries have begun to export in greatervolumes, and several current citrus suppliers have recently developed fresh orange and/orlemon industries. Many of the new exporting countries are low-cost producers andincreasingly supply high quality oranges and lemons that compete directly with traditionalsuppliers. In addition, they generally have low domestic consumption of fresh oranges andlemons, so that any increases in production are most likely destined for export. At the sametime, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) conditions keep some country or regional suppliersout of certain markets until inter-country protocols can be established and met. Somesuppliers face considerable obstacles to achieving SPS standards in certain markets.This report responds to a request from the United States House of RepresentativesCommittee on Ways and Means (Committee) to provide information on the competitiveconditions in certain U.S. citrus industry sectors, particularly the fresh market for orangesand lemons during 2000-2005. The seven countries profiled in this report, Argentina,Australia, Chile, China, Mexico, South Africa, and Spain, were identified as those thatcompete with U.S. producers of oranges, lemons, or both in the U.S. market and abroad.