Egypt's orange exports have increased significantly this season, competing with the world's largest orange exporter, Spain. In this context, FreshPlaza website, a portal specialised in the fresh produce industry, quoted Spanish company Exportaciones Aguado SL confirming great competition between Egypt, Turkey, and Greece in exporting the citrus fruit. Moreover, the company said that Egypt and Turkey are increasing their exports of orange, thus putting pressure on the Spanish company's exports. Exportaciones explained that the Egyptian and Turkish exports of orange are finding more demand in Eastern Europe and Russia, with Spain losing access to those markets. This echoes a report issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week that expected Egypt to become the largest exporter of orange in the world during the new 2017-2018 season, as a result of its attractive prices after the floatation of the Egyptian pound. Moreover, the report assured that Egypt's chance to become the world's largest exporter of orange depends on the volume of Spanish production, and that at a worst estimate, Egypt is expected to be the second largest exporter. FreshPlaza said that the problems and the obstacles that Spain faces in the cultivation of the crop nowadays can be summarised in lack of water. Spain was ranked the top exporter of orange last season, followed by Egypt, as Egypt exports about half of its production. According to USDA report, Egypt ranked sixth among the world's producers of orange. The same report said that Russia, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and China will be the top Egyptian orange importers during the new season. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt's orange exports from the beginning of 2017 until June 2017 amounted to $470,000 compared to $443,000 during the same period last year.
