Prepare for citrus export headaches!

The citrus industry, one of the largest and most successful in South Africa’s agriculture sector, was beset by a host of problems in 2021. Mitchell Brooke, logistics development manager at the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa, spoke to Lindi Botha about these challenges and how farmers could work together to overcome them.

- Lindi Botha

In 2021, South Africa’s citrus industry was hit by many issues that hindered exports. Do you anticipate that these difficulties will continue this year?

Last year was the precursor to 2022. The problems will continue and everyone in the sector needs to be prepared this time around. The issues we’re facing will not be solved within the foreseeable future. There are 500 packhouses packing citrus in Southern Africa, all moving their produce down to the ports on South Africa’s coast. A total of 92 000 containers of citrus were exported last year, and this year it will be around 100 000. Finding an additional 10 000 containers is asking a lot. And once we exceed the 100 000 as the crop increases, the shipping industry will struggle to meet our needs.

The situation is slightly better in the Western Cape, where the deciduous industry’s exports far exceed citrus. So there should be good capacity in that port to handle the crop this year. As a result, we’ll see growing volumes of fruit from the northern production region using this port. Producers will then also be able to capitalise on faster routes to European markets.

That said, demand for trucks is also increasing and as delays at the ports become more common, trucks will also be delayed. Rail transport is not a feasible alternative at this stage, as the system is operationally challenged due to cable theft and a lack of capital investment in new equipment. Transnet doesn’t have the funds to invest in port infrastructure. High-tech machinery is needed to operate the port and these are starting to break down; they require a lot of time and money to fix. Our hope is that there will be more public-private partnerships because the state-owned enterprises don’t have the funds.