Mexico produce shipments are crossing the U.S. border at Nogales, AZ in good volume – at least with several items.
The heaviest amount of product is with cucumbers, bell peppers, squash and tomatoes. Cucumbers are averaging around 675 truck loads per week. However, keep in mind most of these items are shipped as mixers, instead of straight loads of product. In fact, a lot of trucks arrive at Nogales to fill out a load, after multiple picks up California and other parts of Arizona.
Tomatoes are biggest volume right now, averaging nearly 1,000 truck loads per week. The biggest tonnage is with vine ripes and plum tomatoes, with much lesser amounts of grape and cherry tomatoes.
There also are decent crossings of Mexican bell peppers (600 truck loads weekly) and nearly as much volume with squash. Much lighter crossings exist with Mexican watermelons, beans, eggplant and other types of peppers than bell peppers.
With the completion of the Mariposa Land Port of Entry at Nogales last year, arrivals of Mexican vegetables has been more predictable. Because of the finish of the eight-year-long construction project, fewer delays are being experienced by produce haulers picking up product one of the dozens of warehouses in Nogales.
The upgraded port of entry was designed to increase traffic flow at the border because of better facilities, new Customs and Border Protection and inspection procedures. The port now is able to inspect about 4000 trucks per day through eight primary commercial booths and 56 secondary commercial inspection bays.
Nogales produce shipments – grossing about $1300 to L.A.; $5600 to New York City.