South African lemon juice exporters surprised by US dumping allegations

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The South African lemon juice industry was informed on January 6 that California citrus juice producer Ventura Coastal had filed a petition with the United States government, requesting anti-dumping duties on lemon juice concentrate from the United States. Brazil and South Africa. The complaint does not relate to fresh lemons.

Right: a lemons processing tank

US lemon juice makers have in the past called for the same measures against Argentine and Mexican lemon juice concentrate.

“On the one hand, it really surprised us, but on the other hand, we will cooperate fully with the US authorities,” says Rudi Richards, Managing Director of the South African Fruit Juice Association.

“We are not in the business of dumping products and there is no point in dumping below your cost because you will not make money. Our goal is to obtain the best possible prices.

Before the end of this week, the South African fruit juice industry is due to submit data on its exports of lemon juice concentrate to the United States in recent years. It is a much smaller market for South African lemon juice concentrate than its domestic market or than Europe, its main export market.

The petition filed by Ventura Coastal mentions South African producers Cape Fruit Processors and Venco Fruit Processors as subjects of the investigation.

United States: Small but attractive market for South African lemon juice exports “South Africa is really not a significant player in the American market, which is another reason why the dumping allegation was a source of surprise for us. Our lemon juice concentrate exports are less than US $ 10 million, which represents at most 10% of the lemon juice concentrate market in the United States.

He noted, however, the attractiveness of the US market for exports of lemon juice concentrate, the potential of which could be wiped out if anti-dumping duties (a figure of 128% were mentioned) were introduced. Currently, there is a low tariff on South African lemon juice concentrate entering the United States under the AGOA Act which grants South Africa preferential treatment as a trading partner.

Other players in the citrus industry have argued that a possible motivation for the dumping complaint was the lower production costs of South African lemon juice concentrate compared to the production costs of US lemon juice concentrate. .

Richards notes that the South African circumstances in this case could be very different from Brazil, which is the world’s largest producer of orange juice.

“The way these anti-dumping legal processes play out, we could be on a long way here,” he warns. Already, some South African lemon juice producers have observed that their legal costs in this case could exceed their turnover on lemon juice exports to the United States.

For more information: Rudi RichardsSouth African Fruit Juice Association Email: [email protected]

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