Mango imports are up significantly this season. Plus, we take a final look at Northwest cherry shipments.
Brazil Mango Imports
The U.S., the National Mango Board (NMB) has released its latest update from Mexico and Brazil as of August 6, 2016 and reports volume arriving into the U.S. is up nearly one million boxes from last year.
Mango volume shipping the first week of August is about 2.6 million boxes. During the same week last year, volume was around 1.7 million boxes. These numbers brought the total mango volume to over 80,5 million boxes arriving mostly at U.S. ports.
The Brazilian mango shipping season runs from July through November, with a projected 8 million boxes forecast.
As of August 6, volume shipped from Brazil was 322,298 boxes for a total of 372,530 thus far this season. This volume is up an approximate 84,242 boxes from last year at the same time.
Mexico Mango Imports
Additionally, the Mexican mango shipping season, which began in January and will run through October, is expected to provide the U.S. with about 66.5 million boxes of mangos.
At this point last year, volume from Mexico was composed of a total of over 64 millions boxes. This number is slightly lower this year, with a total of 63.1 million cartons.
Though the overall volume is lower as of right now, weekly imports are on the rise. During the week of August 6 last year, volume arrived from Mexico was approximately 1.7 million. This year, that number has significantly increased with volume arriving from Mexico on the same week at around 2.6 million boxes.
Cherry Shipments
Northwest cherry growers shipped nearly 21 million pounds of fruit this year. Some are describing the crop as “vintage” and the “best eating” fruit in many years.
Due to the larger sized cherries, forecasters changed their estimates upwards. On June 1, this year’s crop was estimated at 19.6 million boxes, but by August 4th, the last estimate of the season, it had risen to 20. 8 million boxes, thanks not only to bigger sizes but to less drop on some varieties.