There is a whopping 17 percent more apples remaining in USA storages to be shipped this season, and not surprisingly, most of them are in Washington state. As of April 1st, about 49.7 million bushels of U.S.-grown fresh-market apples had yet to be shipped.
This is 18 percent higher than the five-year average. Of this total, about 48.1 million bushels are in the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys of Washington state. Only aAbout 484,000 bushels of New York apples and 417,000 bushels of Pennsylvania apples were still in storage as of April 1st.
California Citrus Shipments
The final months of California navel orange shipments are underway, with loadings on the decline.
In a normal year, California shippers are loading trucks until the Fourth of July. However, in 2013 it appears shipments will wind down a little earlier than usual because the crop is picking as much as 5 percent to 10 percent lighter than anticipated.
Most California citrus packers will finish by the end of May, although a few will still be shipping into early to mid-June.
Starting the season, the estimate on California navel shipments was 90 million cartons. While the final numbers willnot be out for a number of weeks, it appears loading will end around 84 million cartons.
California Veggies
Desert vegetable shipments from California and Arizona are all but finished, as leaf lettuce and other veggie shipments will begin increasing from the Salinas Valley.
Chilean Port Strike
A Chilean port strike has ended, which should mean an increased arrivals of Chilean table grapes at Long Beach, CA, as well as several ports on the East Coast. This is the last few weeks of the Chilean grape season and some quality problems are being reported, so use caution when loading.
Washington state apples – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
Southern California berries and citrus – about $4700 to Chicago.