Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Mushroom shipments have been hit by high temperatures and dry conditions, resulting in lower volume and shortages across the country.
The greatest impact has been felt in southeastern Pennsylvania, where 64 percent of U.S. mushrooms are grown, according to a news release from the Avondale, PA.-based American Mushroom Institute.
The weather’s impact on the compost used to grow mushrooms has many across the industry worried. Some veteran mushroom growers who have been in the business over three decades have never been this concerned heading towrds the holiday season.
Many farms are reporting reduced yields, and some shippers have struggled to fill orders. Shortages are expected nationwide as demand for mushrooms increases with the holiday season.
Concerns are mounting that all the orders for the product can’t be met and that shipments to retailers and other customers may have to be rationed.
With demand outpacing supply, growers are doing their best to get customers the product they need, but it is expected that fulfilling orders is going to be difficult.
“You’ve just got to share the love evenly with everyone because there’s just nowhere to get extra product,” stated one grower. “It’s just not available … Any other time you could work sideways and barter and trade back and forth, but that won’t be able to happen much this season because everyone’s in the same situation.”
Quality of the mushrooms also has been affected along with quantity.
“There hasn’t been a whole lot quite up to par from what I’m seeing, When the compost is weak you can then get blotch … which causes spotting on the mushrooms that sometimes you can’t see when you harvest the mushroom but it shows up later, by the time it gets shipped to the customer, the grower stated.”
At various times 30 Pennsylvania counties have been in a drought watch, which has affected mushroom growers.
By Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
Nogales – During the recently celebrated 48th Nogales Produce Convention, on Nov. 3- Nov. 5, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, (FPAA) released the 2015-16 Nogales Produce Import Report.
The report shows the significant impact that fresh produce imported via Nogales has in the overall trade of fruits and vegetable in the country. During the last season, imports reached a total of 6.3 billion lbs. which represents 17% of U.S. global imports.
The report presents a five-year comparison, and it reveals what items are highest in volume and in value.
As part of the FPAA Produce Convention program, a panel of importers discussed the report, offering possible explanations for the volume variations, discussing industry trends, and talking about information impacting the upcoming season.
These importers on the panel included: Chris Ciruli, COO, Ciruli Bros. Inc.; Fried DeSchouwer, President, Greenhouse Produce Co.; Rod Sbragia, Director of Sales and Marketing, Tricar Sales Inc.; and Mikee Suarez, Sales, MAS Melons & Grapes. Moderating the panel was Lance Jungmeyer, President of FPAA.
In summary, “Tomatoes have started a new growth phase, separating themselves from watermelons, the No. 2 item in Nogales. This is reflective of the continued growth in romas, and persisting strong demand for round reds,” said Jungmeyer.
The panel said to expect more growth in grapes, as companies add varietals that perform well in the early part of the season.
“A few years ago we had only three or four white, or green, varieties of grapes with any volume in Mexico. Now, we see 10 or more varietals being grown, with interesting and new flavor profiles,” said panelist Mikee Suarez of MAS Melons and Grapes. “These grapes also fill a great gap at the beginning of the Mexican grape season, when Chilean white grapes are leaving the market.”
The panel noted how the Nogales produce deal can no longer be characterized as having a January through April peak in volume.
In fact, the statistics bear out that there is an even stronger second peak in the season in late April through June. Both grapes and watermelons contribute to the second peak.
The following graph shows the evolution and changes in the peaks in the last five seasons:
While a lack of water and labor in western U.S. states is shifting volume to Mexico, there also is a clear trend of improvements in logistics and infrastructure at the Southwest border that should enable greater product flows through Nogales.
For instance, the new Unified Cargo Inspection Program in Nogales is bringing Mexican Customs officers to the U.S. side of the border to conduct inspections. Companies with the proper security clearances can take advantage of this program to reduce their crossing times from 4-6 hours during peak season to less than an hour.
Light volume with Mexican melons, vegetables through Nogales – grossing about $3200 to Chicago.
Red River Valley red potato shipments could be off 30 to 40 percent this season due to excessive rains, while Prince Edward Island is looking a normal volume.
During the 2015-16 shipping season, 25 percent of all red potatoes shipments in the U.S. originated from the Red River Valley eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.
The remaining 75 percent were spread out among 11 other shipping regions. The state of Florida ranked second with roughly 12 percent, while the Big Lake region of Minnesota came in third with a nine percent.
Due to weather factors delaying the Red River Valley harvest this fall, there wasn’t the urgency to ship red potatoes from the new crop out of Central Minnesota (Big Lake). This latter area typically starts shipping a month or so ahead of the Red River Valley and works to complete its season before the valley starts. Big Lake also does not storage potatoes like is done in the valley.
When the Valley started shipping in October, red potato shipping regions around the country such as Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho and the Skagit Valley in Washington, had light volume as well.
While loadings of red potatoes has been a little different so far this season, one thing potato haulers can pretty much count on every year – a flood of Idaho russets courtesy of over producing growers. For example a bale of Idaho russets can be delivered for around $4.00. Folks, that’s cheap!
A recent issue of the North American Potato Market News points out last year’s national red shipments exceeded 2011-12 shipments by 1.7 million cwt, or 14 percent.
Prince Edward Island Potato Shipments
Prince Edward Island is the leading province in Canada with potato shipments and expects to have about 25 million cwt (hundred weight). The potatoes are grown on 89,000 acres, which has remained steady for the past four or five years.
PEI accounts for about 25 percent of Canada’s potato shipments. About 30 percent of the crop is shipped to the fresh market, 60 percent for processing and 10 percent for seed.
by Avocado Producers and Exporting Packers Association of Mexico
URUAPAN, Mexico – The Avocado Producers and Exporting Packers Association of Mexico (APEAM) is pleased to report strong shipments to the U.S. market, as the Mexican avocado industry moves swiftly to resume normal operations after a temporary shipping delay caused by a work stoppage in Mexico earlier this month. Harvesting in Mexico resumed on October 15th, and APEAM initially projected shipping 40 million pounds of avocados to the U.S. last week (October 24 – 28). The industry surpassed that projection and shipped a total of 51.6 million pounds – one of the largest weeks ever for Mexican avocado shipments to the United States.
APEAM expects the distribution system to be fully back on track over the next 10 days. This will enable the industry to fulfill ongoing demand throughout the coming months including football season, Thanksgiving and the Holidays.
Weekly avocado shipments now projected through December have been increased by about 10 percent from previous estimates for a total projection of 469 million pounds for the mid October to December time period.
Last year, the U.S. consumed over two billion pounds of avocados with about 80 percent of the supply coming from Mexico. With the updated projections, Mexico is on track to support the strong U.S. demand for avocados through its network of importers, retailers and foodservice partners.
About APEAM
APEAM is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 to represent the Hass avocado industry throughout Mexico in its export program for the brand Avocados From Mexico. APEAM is dedicated to developing and implementing stringent quality measures to ensure the production of the finest avocados available anywhere, worldwide. APEAM currently represents more than 19,000 growers and 46 packinghouses.
Mexican avocados, tropical fruit and vegetables crossing the border in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of (Pharr) Texas – grossing about $3700 to New York City; Chicago about $2300; and Atlanta, GA, about $2100.
Salinas Valley lettuce shipments are on the decline and the seasonal transition to the San Joaquin Valley is underway. Also, here is an update on potato shipments out of the nation’s leading state – Idaho.
Harvest of iceberg lettuce from the Westside district in the San Joaquin Valley in the Huron, CA area got underway about 10 days ago and volume shipments are increasing.
The seasonal transition of lettuce from California’s Salinas Valley to Huron and to desert growing regions of Arizona (Yuma) and California (Imperial Valley) are underway. Although some minor insect problems and wind damage have occurred, other all quality of the iceberg is reported to be good.
Salinas Valley fruit and vegetable shipments – grossing about $4300 to Chicago.
San Joaquin Valley vegetable shipments – grossing about $5100 to Atlanta.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Idaho potato acreage is reported to be very similar compared with a year ago, and Idaho potato growers and shippers are looking at good quality crop with a good range of sizes for the 2016-17 shipping season. Yields are reported to be fairly good.
About 325,000 acres of Idaho potatoes were planted this year, compared with 323,000 acres planted a year ago. The state’s potato crop accounts for about 33 percent of all U.S. potato volume.
According to the USDA Idaho’s 2015-16 crop was being shipped throughout the season, with top shipment months occurring in September (12 percent of annual volume), October (12 percent), April (11 percent), March (9 percent) and May (9 percent). The comparatively lower volume months were July (6 percent) and August (6 percent).
For the state’s acreage in the 2014-15 season, Russet Burbank potatoes stood at 50.4 percent of the shipments, down from 52.5 percent in 2013-14. Russet Norkotah volume accounted for 17 percent of the acreage, down from 20.1 percent in 2013-14 shipping season. Ranger Russet rose from 14.2 percent in the 2013-14 season to 15.5 percent in the 2014-15 shipping season.
Idaho potato shipments from the Idaho Falls area – grossing about $3000 to Chicago; $5000 to New York City.
Outlook — California citrus shipments will be down this season, while Chilean blueberries arriving in North America are expected to increase. We also take a peak at New York state produce shipments.
With a final shipment of California navels, the total was about 94 million cartons for the 2015-16 season, which was the second largest on record. The upcoming season is expected to be 10 to 15 percent less, amounting to about 84 million cartons.
The California navel orange crop as well as the specialty citrus – led by mandarin oranges – are coming along fine. Harvesting and shipping of navel oranges should be getting underway any day now, while mandarin shipments have already started. California continues to the leading shipper of fresh market citrus in the United States. While early shipping volumes for mandarins have been down a bit, the crop matures, the numbers are expected to increase.
San Joaquin Valley grapes and vegetables – grossing about $4100 to Chicago.
Chilean Blueberry Imports
The U.S. and Canada received 69 percent of the 91,500 metric tons of blueberries exported by Chile during the 2015-16 season. Light blueberry harvest began in August, with peak volume expected to begin at the end of November and continue until the first or second week of March.
Forecast volume to the U.S. is expected to rise about 3 percent this season. During the 2015-16 season, Chilean exporters shipped 15 percent of all blueberry exports by air, and the rest by ocean container.
New York Produce Shipments
Apples are the largest volume produce item being shipped this time of the year, ranging from the Hudson Valley to the Champlain Valley, the central part of the state (Ithaca area). There’s shipments from Western New York (Buffalo) area stretching eastward along the southern shores of Lake Ontario all the way to Oswego. The state expects to ship about 30 million cartons of apples this season and will rank a close third in volume behind Michigan.
There also is moderate volume of cabbage shipments from central and western areas of the Empire state. Orange County, New York is moving a moderate, but steady volume of storage onions.
Florida is pretty dead for produce shipments this time of year, but a faint “pulse” will be found with new season citrus. Nogales is another dead spot, but here’s a preview of when it is expected to come to life. Finally, Mexican avocado loads through South Texas are coming back, joining a number of other produce items.
Florida’s Indian River citrus harvest has just started, making it 10 days to two weeks later than normal due to excessive rains, that were compounded by the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. Matthew dumped up to seven inches of rain on the region, but the brunt of the storm was further north. While Vero Beach sustained 70 mph-80 mph winds, wind speeds hit 50 mph-60 mph in the groves. In Central Florida, harvesting started about a week earlier than Indian River. Florida citrus really dodged a bullet and in the weeks ahead normal shipments are seen.
Nogales Produce Shipments
This is one of the slowest times of the year for Mexican produce crossing into Nogales, AZ for distribution to U.S. and Canadian markets. The next big volumes will occur from January through March. A second, but smaller surge typically takes place from mid-April through June. Tomatoes have historically led produce shipments through Nogales from Mexico, but watermelon volume has increased to the point it could over take tomatoes. Other big volume items range from squash to peppers and many other winter vegetables. A significant factor in the growth and popularity of Mexican grown produce is due to many California farming operations investing and marketing produce from south of the border. They see lower production and labor costs with fewer stifling rules and regulations, which continue to come with doing business in California….Kind of sounds like trucking in California, doesn’t it.
Mexican Avocado Shipments
A projected 40 million pounds of avocados were expected to be shipped to the U.S. for the week ending October 21st. Mexican volume, entering the U.S. primarily through South Texas, had fallen sharply to 13.7 million the week of Oct. 10 – 14.
There had been a strike by Mexican workers with the primary issue revolving around sales negotiations between the growers and packers. The dispute apparently has been resolved.
Mexican tropical fruit, tomatoes and vegetable shipments through South Texas – grossing about $2100 to Chicago.
Imported produce is relatively light, but is increasing as we advance further into fall. Full tilt will come during the winter months and continue until the North American spring starts coming into view. The vast majority of arrivals will be by boat at various U.S. ports.
Among the heaviest volumes right now are Mexican limes and lemons, crossing the border primarily through South Texas. Both are increasing in volume with limes averaging about 500 truck loads weekly, and lemons about half this amount. Mexican blueberries also are very light, but will be increasing in volume crossing the border in both Texas and Nogales. There’s also light volume of Peruvian blueberries coming by boat.
There is increasing arrivals of South African Valencia oranges at U.S. ports. Mexican Valencias will be very light until mid October through South Texas….Chile is a major supplier of winter fruit to the U.S., but that will mostly be after the first of the year. However, nearly 400 truck load equivalents of Chilean tangerines are currently arriving weekly…..Mexican avocados through Texas would normally be heavier now, but there is a strike underway by Mexican growers.
Port of Oakland
TraPac LLC plans to lease an additional 57 acres and two vessel berths nearly double its marine terminal size on the Outer Harbor at the Port of Oakland.
TraPac is the second-largest terminal operator in Oakland and a proposed 14-year lease agreement with the port will become final if approved at an October 27 board meeting.
“This is a significant step forward for TraPac and the port,” port maritime director John Driscoll said in a news release. “TraPac gets room to expand its thriving business and the port gets to revitalize valuable property with a highly respected tenant.”
TraPac, based in Wilmington, CA, handles 20 percent of the containerized cargo moving through the Port of Oakland. Under the new agreement, it would have four berths and 123 acres. Much of the land would be used for cargo handling.
TraPac began Oakland operations in 1991 and also manages other terminals in Los Angeles and Jacksonville, FL
The company plans to construct a new gate to give harbor truckers better access to the terminal.
Western produce shipments out of California, Washington and Arizona are making their typical fall season moves.
We are about a month into the fall produce shipping season and it is very much still in a transitional period for fresh fruit and vegetable shipments. Some items are increasing in volume, others are in a seasonal decrease, yet we have some products that are a few weeks, if not months away from changes – meanwhile remaining in a fairly steady amount of shipments from week to week.
California Produce Shipments
Table grape shipments out of the San Joaquin Valley in recent years have been one of the more steady, reliable items for hauling – with generally good quality that certainly reduces issues with claims or deductions in freight paid. This situation should continue for another six to eight weeks before a seasonal decline takes place making way for imported grapes led by Chile. California’s late season grape volume is averaging over 1900 truck loads per week…..The Central Joaquin Valley also is having consistent loadings with mature green and romas tomatoes – around 650 loads weekly. A little further south in Kern County, California carrots are averaging about 375 truck load equivalents per week.
It has been a rather ho-hum shipping season for vegetables out of the Salinas Valley. Still, loadings have been pretty consistent lately and should remain so for a few more weeks before a seasonal decline. Among the larger volume items are head lettuce, romaine, celery, broccoli and cauliflower. These five items combined are averaging over 3700 truck loads per week.
California grapes – grossing about $6200 to New York City.
Washington Apple Shipments
Apple loadings out of the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys have yet to hit stride in the new season, but are increasing on a weekly basis. This week about 500 truck load equivalents should be moved. Pear shipments from the same area also are increasing.
Washington apples and pears – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Arizona Produce Shipments
As the Westside district in the San Joaquin Valley comes to a conclusion for melon shipments led by cantaloupe and honeydew, the fall transition to central and western Arizona is underway. Arizona cantaloupe volume is on the rise, and honeydew will follow in a couple of weeks.
Fewer total U.S. citrus shipments are seen this season from the leading states of Florida, California and Texas.
Florida’s first forecast for citrus shipments reveals a continued decline across all varieties with grapefruit and navel oranges expected to be among the lowest levels in history. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on October 12th forecast Florida to ship 81 million equivalent cartons of oranges, grapefruit and specialty fruit or tangerines, down from 94.1 million boxes last season.
The Sunshine state is expected to move 70 million 90-pound cartons of oranges with navel oranges amounting 1 million cartons. Navels are predicted to be three percent lower than last season and the lowest since the 1979-80 season when the USDA began separate navel forecasts.
Regarding grapefruit, Florida should ship 9.6 million 85-pound cartons, down 11 percent from the 2015-16 season and the lowest level in 50 years. As for tangerines, early season fallglos, midseason sunbursts and later season honeys are forecast to decline as well.
The USDA report forecast 7.5 million boxes of red grapefruit and 2.1 million boxes of white grapefruit.
California Citrus Shipments
California orange loadings are forecast to be down from 54.2 million 80-pound cartons last season to 50.5 million cartons this season. The state’s grapefruit shipments are forecast to increase from 3.8 million 80-pound cartons last season to 4 million cartons for 2016-17.
Texas Citrus Shipments
Texas orange shipments are seen falling from 1.7 million 85-pound cartons in 2015-16 to 1.4 million cartons this year. With grapefruit, Texas shipments are forecast to decline from last season’s 4.8 million 80-pound cartons to 4.7 million cartons this season.
25 years ago or so , there were 30 shippers and packers of Texas grapefruit and oranges operating the Rio Grande Valley and shipment citrus across the U.S. as well as exporting. Today, there are only three shippers.
Worldwide citrus grower are concerned about citrus greening, the primary reason for the decline in Florida citrus volume. In Texas,, the crops have not been affected by the disease. However, observers point out Florida didn’t feel the decline [in volume and tree health] until the sixth year after greening was discovered. Texas is now entering its sixth since green was discovered in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. A lot of folks are holding their breath and taking a wait and see attitude.