Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Mangoes from Mexico, as well as grapes from California are expected to provide excellent volume shipments this year.
Imported Mexican mangoes by U.S. importers got off to an early season start this year and is expected to follow the normal volume increases associated with spring.
Between 3 and 4 million boxes of Mexican mangoes have been crossing the border during April.
Another season of record-breaking volume with peak supplies from southern Mexico that started this month is expected to continue into mid-May as the harvest shifts to more northern regions, such as Nayarit and Sinaloa, from mid-June through August.
Importers such as Ciruli Bros, LLC of Rio Rico, AZ and Jade Produce LLC of Mission, TX have been experiencing excellent volume mango shipments to U.S. markets.
Imported Mexican mango shipments from late March to the week of May 14 should be 16 percent higher than last year, with 49 million boxes in 2018 compared to 42 million boxes a year ago.
Besides Mexico, there also are imported mangoes from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Haiti during the spring. The Peruvian season finished in early April, and the Costa Rican season end the last half of April.
The Mexican season started in January and runs until October. The Nicaraguan season got underway in mid-March and ran until the last week of April. The Guatemalan season was launched in March and should run through the end of May. The Haitian season started the third week of April and will run until September.
California Grapes
Since the 2012 California grape shipments have exceeded 100 million boxes each season and 2018 is expected to be no different. In fact, 100 million – plus boxes is almost taken for granted these days.
California grape shipments totaled 109.1 million boxes during the 2017 season, which runs from May through January. In 2016, the industry shipped 110 million boxed of table grapes.
California typically begins with grapes from the Coachella Valley in early May, before transitioning to the Arvin area of Bakersfield in early June, with the remainder of the season involving much of the San Joaquin Valley.
Refrigerated truck rates on the spot market for fresh produce reached 40-year highs at the end of 2017 and early 2018. At the same time fruit and vegetable tonnage approached record levels. Meanwhile, the spike in rates may not be over, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Refrigerated Truck Quarterly, a 31-page report published in March. Continued economic growth may also encourage the upward push on rates.
All sectors of the trucking industry were affected in a similar fashion by the driver shortage, capacity issues and higher rates, which squeezed the transportation for fruit and vegetables. Because of less truck capacity, many are concerted about widespread disruptions in the supply chain.
Trucks account for around 70 percent of domestic freight tonnage, and trends showed the sector was heating up with the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) reports fourth-quarter 2017 tonnage of all truck freight, was up 3.7 percent from the previous quarter and 8.1 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2016. Total tonnage for 2017 was up 3.8 percent from 2016, which was the biggest annual increase since 2013.
Diesel fuel rates in the fourth quarter were $2.87 per gallon, up 9 percent from the previous quarter and 16 percent above the fourth quarter of 2016.
Additionally, the USDA reported refrigerated fruit and vegetable shipments in the fourth quarter of 2017, at 7.72 million tons, were the third-highest on record. The quarter trailed only the 2016 mark of 8.05 million tons and 7.99 million tons in 2011.
Total refrigerated fruit and vegetable shipments for all of 2017 were a record 33.6 million tons, up 0.5 percent from33.4 million tons in 2016.
Driver Shortage
The ATA estimates if current trends continue the driver shortage of 48,000 positions in 2015 could grow to 175,000 positions by 2025.
The electronic logging device mandate has been disruptive for many carriers, with many shipping point districts reporting shortages immediately after the December 18 ELD deadline.
Fourth-quarter fruit and vegetable truck rates of $2.55 per mile for routes from 500 to 1,500 miles were up 25 percent over year-ago levels, and rates of $2.52 per mile for routes of 1,500 miles to 2,500 miles were up 24 percent over the fourth quarter of 2016.
Coast-to-coast reefer truck rates on January 10th exceeded $10,000 per truck from several Western districts. For example, January rates from Idaho to Miami were as high as $10,200 per truck, up from $6,800 the previous year.
Truck rates in late March were down from January historic highs, but were still higher than in 2017.
At Nogales, AZ, imported Mexican produce rates were in the $5,800 to $6,800 range to New York City on March 27, down from $6,000 to $7,000 on March 8 and well off the rates of $9,000 to $9,800 reported in mid-January.
March produce trucking rates were still above the same time a year ago, when trucks from Nogales to New York City were in the $5,000 to $5,200 range.
The next quarterly report will be issued in late May for refrigerated trucks hauling fresh produce.
The start date has been set and Vidalia Onion shipments get underway in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, here’s an update on California avocado and strawberry shipments.
The Vidalia onion season will officially start on April 20th, which was recently announced by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Vidalia Onion Committee.
A starting date was implemented several years at as some shippers were concerned about immature or low-quality onions hitting the market early in the season. In 2017, April 12 was the start date, and in 2016 it was April 25. The packing date is based on soil and weather conditions in the 20-county area approved to market onions as Vidalias.
In 2017 Vidalia onions were grown on more than 11,000 acres.
California Avocado Shipments
This year’s avocado forecast is set at 374.6 million pounds, which is significantly higher than last year’s 215.8 million pounds. There was the normal light volume in February, but significant volume increase are seen in coming weeks as there will be avocados coming out of both California and Mexico.
With the close of February, 2 million to 4 million pounds per week were being shipped and volume increases of March are expected to continue April until movement eventually hits about 10 million pounds per week.
Ventura County avocados, strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $3900 to Dallas.
California Shipper’s Strawberry Outlook
by California Giant Berry Farms
Watsonville, CA – Spring conditions have finally arrived in California to help bring on the new strawberry crop for California Giant. Unfortunately, the company missed the chance to take advantage of the early Easter holiday which provides opportunity to build demand and lay the groundwork for a strong spring season. However, conditions have changed significantly and now California Giant is now looking ahead to the next chance with Mother’s Day.
What initially looked like an early season for the company’s California strawberry crop, didn’t quite happen as growers thought it would. . Additionally, the company had weather issues in their two other regions, Mexico and Florida, which typically helps fill the early season gaps.
“…In Watsonville and Salinas we expect big beautiful fruit next week bypassing the typical mud crop” says JT Tipton, District Manager for Salinas and Watsonville. Barring any unexpected return of winter conditions, the sales team is looking forward to Mother’s Day ahead and promotable volume to support their key customers.”
Larger volume shipments are being reported for bananas, limes and Brussel sprouts.
Imported bananas have been light in recent months because of inclement weather and other unfavorable conditions in numerous banana producing countries.
However, supplies are expected to improve in coming weeks, although the first quarter of 2018 has presented serious challenges.
About 85 percent of bananas shipped to the U.S. in 2017 came from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras. American importers have reported issues affecting production in three of those four countries as well as in others.
Temperatures have been as much as 10 degrees below normal for several weeks in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, slowing fruit growth, production and yield.
There also has been excess rainfall and flooding in Costa Rica and Panama that have damaged plantations, infrastructure, roads and bridges. There also has been high winds and waves causing delays in shipping. Combine these factors with national instability and supply interruptions in Honduras, and the result supplies being much tighter than normal.
Lime Imports
Rain in Mexico’s Veracruz growing region reduced lime imports by the U.S., but observers expect improved shipments by the middle of April. The f.o.b. price on limes had doubled from mid February to mid March. Erratic weather in Mexico often makes March a difficult time of year for the lime shipments and so far in 2018 it hasn’t been any different.
Mexico provided 93 percent of total U.S. lime imports in mid-March, with the remaining light volume from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. Lime volume should return to normal levels by May.
Brussel Sprouts
It seems Brussels sprouts may be the latest trendy vegetable in America and that has led to increased production and shipments.
The volume of fresh Brussels sprouts shipped hit 78.9 million pounds, up 9 percent during the past year. Domestic fresh Brussels sprout shipments totaled 3.03 million 25-pound cartons in 2016, up from 752,000 cartons in 2010. Imported fresh Brussels sprouts totaled 4.5 million (25-pound) cartons, up from 1.06 million cartons in 2010.
In California, 2016 USDA statistics show peak shipments of Brussels sprouts occurred in November, when 22 percent of the state’s crop was shipped. The four-month period of September through December accounted for 68 percent of the state’s total Brussels sprouts shipments.
Sweet corn shipments will be having a significant increase in volume beginning the week of April 9th in the U.S.
The rise in shipments is just a prelude to the major peak shipping periods related to the big four summer holidays — Memorial Day (May 28th) , Father’s Day (June 17th), Fourth of July (a Wednesday) and Labor Day (September 3rd).
Sweet corn shipper A Family of Farms, based in South Bay, FL is seeing sweet corn shipments picking up this week with steady volume through the months of April and May. The company’s bicolor corn will start shipping in late April and continue through the Fourth of July. The shipper has a similar situation to one of its Florida competitors, Duda Farm Fresh Foods of Ovideo, FL, which had lower sweet corn volume than normal through Easter, due to rain and cooler weather during the planting season. Sweet corn shipments also are expected to remain consistent for the transition to loadings taking place out of Georgia around Memorial Day.
On the West Coast, sweet corn shipper Five Crowns Marketing of Tracy, CA, experienced a late freeze in the Imperial Valley which reduced supplies during April. Volume shipments will arrive in May. However, there may be a bit of roller coaster ride with shipments because of rain and cooler weather during the planting season.
During the past five years, shipments of sweet corn have peaked in late June leading up to the Fourth of July, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Retail Report.
In 2017, sweet corn was promoted in an average of 4,600 stores per week. The peak weeks, however, showed significantly more promotions, with sweet corn on ad in 18,500 stores the week ending June 30; 17,200 stores the week ending May 26; and 16,400 stores the week ending September 1.
The leading states for sweet corn shipments are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Texas and Washington.
Plentiful grape shipments crossing the border from Mexico will be starting in a few weeks, plus here’s a shipping update on sweet potatoes.
Mexican Grapes
Mexican grape shipments will get underway in late April, with peak loadings occurring between the last week of May and the third week of June. A majority of the Mexican grapes will be crossing the border at Nogales, AZ.
The Mexican state of Caborca will come into its major production in early June, after shipping its first box in late May. The first crop estimate is expected about April 19-20, but good volume is predicted.
This 2018 crop is expected to be similar to 2016, which yielded a normal volume of about 16 million boxes. In Mexico in 2017, there was a record-breaking fresh grape crop of 21 million boxes exported to the U.S. An additional 4 million boxes were sold in the domestic (Mexican) market.
Nearly all of Mexico’s table grape vineyards are in the state of Sonora. Sonora’s three basic grape-growing regions are Hermosillo, Caborca and Guaymas. Guaymas is the farthest south and ships the earliest Sonoran grapes. The Hermosillo growing district has production to the west of town, in the La Costa area — near the relatively warm waters of the Sea of Cortez — and to the north in Pesqueria. Generally speaking, Caborca supplies the end of Mexico’s fast and short May-June deal.
Sweet Potato Shipments
American sweet potato growers harvested 159,300 acres in 2017, down from 163,300 acres the previous year. From 2010-14, that number had remained between 115,000 and 130,000 acres. As acreage and yields have increased, farmers have seen lower markets, leading one to wonder if supply isn’t finally exceeding demand. Meanwhile, moderate volume of sweets potatoes are being shipping from North Carolina, with much lighter volume from other areas.
Louisiana Sweet Potatoes
Louisiana will continue shipping sweet potatoes into June, ranking a distant fourth in volume nationwide behind North Carolina, California and Mississippi. Cajun country is shipping about 25 truck loads of sweet potatoes a week. Loads are grossing about $1800 to Chicago.
Here is the outlook for loadings of Florida blueberries, peaches and Valencia oranges.
Florida blueberry shipments are now moving in decent volume and will continue until the middle of May.
Wish Farms of Plant City, FL should have about 250,000 pounds of organic fruit from Florida this year, compared to 100,000 pounds a year ago. Strawberries are Wish Farms’ largest crop, accounting for about 60percent of its volume, compared to 30 percent for blueberries. The company will wind up its strawberry season any day now.
In all, Florida blueberry production consists of about 7,000 acres and 1,000 growers. Florida shipped about 20 million pounds of blueberries in 2017, and a similar volume is expected this year.
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New Florida Blueberry Shipper
MIAMI, FLA. – Crystal Valley Foods (Crystal Valley) has announced that it will begin shipping conventional and organic Florida blueberries under the Crystal Valley label this season. The first shipments will begin at the end of March and they will be available through the end of May.
The company has an exclusive partnership with a grower/packer in Hawthorne, Fla. and they expect a good Florida season as weather in the region has been conducive to good volume and quality.
With the acquisition of Team Produce last year, Crystal Valley has been able to successfully enter into the berry category, supplying imported blueberries from September through April. The transition into Florida is the first step in offering their customers year-round blueberries.
About Crystal Valley Foods
Founded in 1994, Crystal Valley Foods is a leading grower and importer of produce from Central and South America. With offices and facilities in Miami and Los Angeles, the company is one of the largest importers and distributors of asparagus in the USA. Its extensive product line also includes baby vegetables, peas, beans, berries, baby lettuces, peppers and other specialty crops.
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Florida Citrus
The Dundee (FL) Citrus Growers Association reports Florida grapefruit shipments are winding down, but valencia oranges will continue through April. with storage crop available into June.
Florida Peaches
Florida peach shipments are just getting started will continue until the middle of May. with peak loadings mostly occurring during April. Traditionally, Florida peaches start as Chile exits the marketplace and before California, South Carolina or Georgia being shipments of new season fruit.
California spring vegetable shipments are seeing increasing competition from Mexican imports.
USDA trade statistics show imports of fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Mexico soared to $294 million in 2017, up 27 percent from $231 million in 2016 and up 87 pecent from 2013. By volume, U.S. imports of Mexican fresh broccoli and cauliflower totaled 262,000 metric tons, up 14 percent from 2016 and up 49 percent from 2013.
Imports of fresh broccoli and cauliflower were only $19.6 million and 45,000 metric tons in 2000, according to USDA statics. That’s just 6 pecent of 2017 import value and 17 percent of 2017 import volume.
Around 44 percent of Mexican imports of broccoli and cauliflower were recorded from January through April in 2017. March was the biggest month for imports for fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Mexico, with more than 33,000 metric tons reported in March 2017, or about 13 percent of total annual imports.
The value of U.S. imports of fresh lettuce from Mexico has increased year over year recently. In 2016 had a slight dip in volume, followed by a big jump in 2017.
Growth in imports of fresh lettuce from Mexico also has been strong. Total imports of Mexican fresh lettuce totaled $246 million in 2017, up 13 percent from 2016 and 55 percent from 2013. By volume, 2017 imports of Mexican fresh lettuce totaled 231,000 metric tons, up 30 percent from 2016 and 54 percent higher than 2013.
In 2000, fresh lettuce imports from Mexico totaled just $6.5 million in value and 10,000 metric tons in value. That accounts for just 3 percent of 2017 import value and 4 percent of import volume.
Fresh asparagus imports from Mexico totaled $422.3 million in 2017, up 21 percent from 2016 and 35 percent higher than 2013. By volume, imports of Mexican asparagus were 147,000 metric tons in 2017, up 16 percent from 2016 and up 58 percent from 2013.
Year 2000 imports of Mexican fresh asparagus were $67 million in value and 38,000 metric tons in volume. That is just 16 percent of 2017 value and 26 percent of 2017 import volume.
Imports of Mexican fresh celery totaled $33 million in 2017, up 27 percent from 2016 and up 43 percent from 2013. By volume, imports of Mexican celery totaled 64,400 metric tons in 2017, up 33 percent from 2016 and 33 percent from 2013.
Imports of Mexican celery in 2000 $7.5 million in value and 22,400 metric tons in volume. That represents 21 percent of 2017 value and 34 percent of 2017 volume.
Mexican imported vegetables at Nogales – grossing about $3600 to Chicago.
Mexican imported vegetables from South Texas – grossing about $5900 to New York City.
Lower Rio Grande Valley onion shipments are just getting underway with optimism for good volume and quality. Meanwhile, potato exports to Canada take a big jump.
South Texas onion shipments are just getting underway in very light volume, with decent loading opportunities expected in early April.
There are about 7,000 acres of onions in the ground, similar to past seasons. Shipments should continue into late May to early June out of the Rio Grande Valley. Much smaller volume will be available in July from the Winter Garden area just south of San Antonio. Light shipments from West Texas will be follow, continuing into early September. Currently, imported Mexican onions are crossing the border into South Texas and should finish sometime in April.
The Rio Grande Valley of South Texas has about 60 onion growers and about 30 shippers such as Southwest Onion Growers LLC, McAllen, The Onion House, Weslaco and J&D Produce of Edinburg. Total shipments of south Texas onions were about 3 million 50-pound equivalents for the 2015-16 season,
Potato Exports Show Big Growth to Canada, Mexico
U.S. fresh potato exports soared 17 percent in value last year led by double-digit growth in Canada and Mexico. U.S. fresh potato exports totaled $238.8 million, up 17 percent from a year ago, according to the USDA. Volume of fresh potatoes exported in 2017 totaled 544,624 metric tons, up 11 percent from 2016.
Leading the U.S. export market for fresh potatoes was Canada, where $101 million worth of potatoes were shipped, up 15 percent from 2016. The volume of U.S. fresh potatoes sold to Canada totaled 263,426 metric tons, up 9 percent.
Mexico purchased $41.8 million in 2017, up 14 percent from 2016. Volume of U.S. fresh potato exports to Mexico totaled 93,350 metric tons, up 2 percent from 2016.
Sales to other markets, with gains/loss compared with a year ago:
- Taiwan, $22.2 million (19 percent);
- Japan, $18.47 million (-5 percent);
- Philippines, $11.9 million (80 percent);
- South Korea, $8.9 million (160 percent); and
- Malaysia, $6.5 million (19 pecent).
The face of Florida spring produce shipments long have been centered around citrus, mixed vegetables and tomatoes. This will continue to be the case in the foreseeable future, but there are some other products that have entered the picture and could provide substantially larger volume in the future.
Florida peach shipments have started in recent years, and the state is heavily promoting the stone fruit, particularly in April, when it has a shipping window pretty much to itself. Florida peaches are shipped as imported Chilean peaches are winding down, and before the product is ready in California, Georgia and South Carolina.
Asian vegetables are relatively new to Florida produce production, which are grown across the state and have a growing concentration in the St. Augustine/Hastings area of North Florida.
These items range from Chinese cabbage, to bok choy, beans, bitter melon, Chinese broccoli and many other Asian herbs and vegetables. As these items become more mainstream, there will be more loading opportunities for produce haulers.
There also has been increasing acreage with sweet potatoes in recent years. Florida has the first domestic sweet potatoes of the growing season prior to the traditional Louisiana, Mississippi, California and North Carolina sweet potato seasons that start in late summer.
Brussels sprouts are another up-and-coming crop in Florida, particularly in the Hastings area. Cabbage traditionally has been a staple crop in this area, but growers in the area have recently branched out to other crops, such as broccoli and cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
Florida Tomato Shipments
Grower, shippers such as Oakes Farms Inc. of Immokalee and DiMare Co. of Homestead launched tomato shipments in October and continue into June. Tomato volume typically has a substainal volume increase starting in the middle of March.
Between March and May, Florida accounts for 55 percent of grape and cherry tomato shipments in the U.S. and 41 percent of the round tomatoes.
On average, Florida supplied 100 percent of temple oranges, 70 percent of sweet corn, and 55 percent of snap beans shipped the U.S. from 2014-17.
Florida produce shipments – grossing about $3200 to New York City.