Australia: Citrus Annual
Citrus is one of Australia’s foremost horticultural industries and the largest exporter of fresh fruit. The harvest of fresh oranges in 2014-15 is forecast at 430,000 tons, largely unchanged from the previous year. Improved access to water irrigation in recent years has supported production, but unseasonal in early spring led to fewer than expected buds, resulting in a decline in likely volumes. Australia is a counter-cyclical exporter of oranges to northern hemisphere markets while the United States exports oranges during Australia’s off-season. Over 2014, Australia signed free trade agreements with China, Japan and Korea which will significantly benefit citrus exporters.
