Mexico: Citrus Annual

In market year (MY) 2023/24, total citrus production in Mexico is expected down slightly by 1.5 percent versus the previous year, driven primarily by a reduction in fresh lime production. While fresh orange production is projected up fractionally, increasingly erratic conditions such as prolonged drought and high temperatures affected the main producing regions in the current year and reduced harvest quality. Post expects that with the recovery of the trees, larger fruit with higher juice content will be harvested in MY 2023/24. Despite higher delivery of oranges for processing in the current MY, orange juice production and thus exportable supply is expected to decline due to the smaller, drier product. It is projected that fresh juice concentrate production will rebound somewhat in MY 2023/24 as the quality of fresh fruit normalizes. Exports of fresh citrus fruit are projected to remain stable for most varieties, except for a decrease in fresh lemons/limes exports due to the decline in production.