Brazil: Oranges and tahiti lime devalue in May; for ponkan tangerine, prices remain firm

The prices of the main citrus fruits surveyed by Cepea dropped in May in the Brazilian market. The downward trend of quotations was already expected by the agents in the sector, since the supply of oranges and tangerine usually increase at this time of the year, while the demand for fruits in general decrease because of the cold weather.

In the market of ponkan tangerine, although the volume harvested increased slightly last month, demand remained firm – as the supply of ponkan tangerine increases at this time of the year, consumers demand – which was previously for oranges and other fruits, such as apples and bananas – is focused on tangerines. In this scenario, the average price for ponkan tangerine in May closed at BRL 64.09 per 27-kg box (on tree), stable compared to that in April. For June, Cepea collaborators expect supply to increase gradually. Thus, prices may fade along the month.

Oranges devalued in May, as the harvest of early varieties stepped up and some volumes of pear oranges out of the ideal period were harvested too. Besides, consumption decreased, mainly because of the lower temperatures in southern and southeastern Brazil.

Thus, in May, the average price for pear oranges closed at BRL 43.08 per 40.8-kg box (on tree), 7.9 % lower than that in April. For rubi oranges, the average in May closed at BRL 39.47/box, 3 % down in the same comparison. It is important to consider that the slighter devaluation of early varieties is linked to its maturation, which is nearer the ideal compared to pear oranges.

Cepea collaborators reported that orange devaluations were not steeper because of the demand from juice processors. Activities are still low at processors, but farmers had three plants to send fruits to in May, which helped to control supply in the table market. In June, the harvest is expected to increase, however, as processing is supposed to rise too, prices may continue stable in the table market.

As for tahiti lime, quotations dropped steeply in May. According to Cepea collaborators, besides weak demand because of the cold weather, supply was high last month, also due to low exports and processing. The average price for this variety in May closed at BRL 13.95 per27-kg box (harvested). 51.6 % lower than that in April and 2.8 % below that in May/22, in nominal terms.

For June, Cepea collaborators expect supply to be high, which may limit possible valuations if exports continue low. Also, Mexican exports usually increase at this time of the year, which may hamper shipments of the Brazilian fruit to Europe.