Imports of Chilean blueberries and stone fruit to the US are returning to seasonally normal volumes following a slow start.
Exports to the U.S. were close to their peak in the first half of February, with over 6,000 tons of Chilean blueberries shipped to the U.S. the last week of January. This was a new high. So the gap between this season’s volume and last year’s has rapidly diminished. Through early February, Chilean shipments to North America were down only 2 percent.
Chilean Stone Fruit
The Chilean stonefruit season also got off to a slow start, and the effects from that have rippled throughout the season due to weather issues. Fewer boats transporting Chilean nectarines and peaches have been arriving in the U.S., and their arrivals have been spaced out further than usual.
Now the challenges are more logistical than weather related as the volume of grapes is overtaking some of the stonefruit.
A couple of ships containing peaches and nectarines from Chile were supposed to arrive last week in Southern California. The second ship, scheduled to arrive at the end of the week, had its stonefruit cargo bumped to a later trip. So, instead of waiting three or four days between stonefruit arrivals, importers will have to wait about 10 days for the next shipment.
Port of Long Beach Chilean imports and Southern California citrus – grossing about $3500 to Dallas.