The Egyptian citrus season calendar for 2026/2027 opens when the Export Council announces Navel exports (mid-December) and closes with cold-storage Valencia at the end of August. What matters to a buyer is not the season length but the handover points, the two or three weeks where one variety is finishing and the next is not yet at full size. Programmes break at those joints more often than anywhere else.

Which variety is loading in each half-month

Why February is the difficult month

Navel exports close on 1 March, and the last Navel loadings run on smaller counts. Valencia ships from January, so the two overlap through February. Buyers who need a continuous 56 or 64 count across the 1 March close should contract both varieties in advance rather than expecting the market to supply the gap on spot. Some programmes bridge it with Baladi, which holds size well and is priced below Navel in the same weeks.

Late Valencia and regreening

From May, warm nights can drive chlorophyll back into the peel of fruit still on the tree. This is regreening. The fruit is ripe, often sweeter than it was in March, but the skin carries a green cast at the stem end. It is a cosmetic issue, and it is worth agreeing a tolerance for it in the contract if you are buying into June. Colour handling before that point is covered in our note on degreening citrus.

Booking against the calendar

Reefer space out of Alexandria and Damietta tightens from the second week of November through January, when citrus, onion and potato programmes compete for the same boxes. Buyers loading in that window should have allocation confirmed by late September. Cross-crop availability for the rest of the year sits in the Egyptian produce export calendar 2026/2027.

PEI Trade is the exporter, not a neutral reviewer. Dates reflect a normal season. Navel exports open only when the Export Council announces the opening, so confirm the date before fixing a shipping week.