South Korea: Citrus Annual
Korea’s total citrus production for Marketing Year (MY) 2014/15 is forecast at 688,000 metric tons (MT), 2.4 percent higher than the 672,000 MT of MY 2013/14, as total area for Unshu oranges in MY 2014/15 is forecast to remain stable at 20,570 hectares (HA). Unshu orange exports for MY 2014/15 are forecast at 3,500 MT, a similar level to the previous marketing year, while fresh orange imports are forecast at 120,000 MT for MY 2014/15, about 19,500 MT higher than the 100,457 MT of MY 2013/14. In MY2014/15, lemon imports are expected to remain stable at 13,000 MT, similar to the previous marketing year, while grapefruit imports for MY 2014/15 are forecast to increase to 20,000 MT due to increased demand and price competitiveness. And, frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) imports are expected to rebound to 15,000 MT in MY 2014/15 mainly due to the settlement of origin verification for U.S. FCOJ under the rules of the KORUS FTA.
