Global demands for fresh lemons to increase in the yearly crop 2020-21

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has forecasted in 2020-21 crop, global lemon production will slightly drop to 8.3 million tons compared to 8.447 million tons during 2019-20 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, also due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people all over the world tend to increase the use of citrus fruits to increase their immune system and resistance against the disease. This has resulted in a rapid increase in demand for fresh lemons thus leading to an upsurge forecasted in the consumption and export of fresh lemons in the world market.

Total domestic consumption of fresh lemons in the world during the yearly crop 2020-21 is forecasted to be about 6.45 million tons, up from 6.047 million tons in 2019-20 and total import demand is 2,172 million tons, up from 2.082 million tons in the previous crop.

US lemon production in 2020-21 is forecasted to drop to 940 thousand tons or a decrease by 6% compared to the previous crop due to a decrease of output in California. However, consumption is expected to increase, so the US will have to increase imports of lemons. The amount of lemons imported into the US is forecasted at 910 thousand tons, an increase of nearly 100,000 tons over the previous crop.

In recent years, Vietnam has exported fresh lemons to several markets, but with modest quantity and value compared to many other fruits.