Competitiveness in international orange trade

Attila Jambor, Dorottya Czirkl

Abstract: This paper examines the competitiveness of international orange trade over the period 1993-2018 based on global data. The paper uses the methodology of comparative advantages to analyse fresh orange and orange juice data. Results suggest that most competitive countries are focusing on processed orange trade. Although Brazil is the world’s largest orange-producing country, it is not among the top 10 countries in the global orange fruit market, representing that it mainly focuses on processing. Results also suggest that there is no high concentration in the export market for fresh oranges, however, Spain’s share is growing steadily, as well as South Africa and Egypt can be mentioned as emerging nations. With further analysis of the international orange trade, Egypt’s comparative advantage over fresh oranges increased the most and had the highest results in recent periods followed by South Africa, Greece and Spain. By examining global orange juice trade, it is not surprising that Brazil had the largest comparative advantage, although its value is constantly declining. With a dynamic analysis of comparative advantages, a large decrease can be observed in the chance of survival of the advantages.

Keywords: Balassa; comparative advantage; orange; survival

Date published: 2022-03-11