Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Peruvian mango exports are predicted to be at 220,000-240,000 tons of fresh mangoes in the 2021/2022 season. This would be very similar to the previous two season, which were 237,000 tons in 2019/2020 and 217,000 tons in 2020/2021.
The Peruvian Association of Mango Exporters (APEM) note, 60 percent of the total volume would is destined for go the U.S., 30 percent to Europe, and 10 percent to Asia and other Latin American countries.
Peru’s mango season typically runs from December through March.
Peru has nearly 86,500 acres of mango for export (80 percent located in Piura, 10 percent in Lambayeque, and the remaining 10 percent in Ancash) that are grown by 14,000 producers.
This season Peru will have 17 certified hydrothermal treatment plants to ship fresh mango to the U.S., when 5 years ago there were only 11 plants.
Imported Peruvian asparagus should be up slightly over last season.
Peruvian growers exported 206.48 million pounds of asparagus to the U.S. during 2020, according to the USDA. The Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association predicts shipments should be slightly higher for 2021. The group sees steady imports through the end of the year and into January.
Square One Farms LLC of Sunrise FL, notes Peru supplies asparagus to the U.S. market about 10 months of the year, with the fourth quarter binging heaviest volume.
Square One Farms expects Peruvian asparagus volume to be up over 15% this year compared to 2020.
Southern Specialties Inc. of Pompano Beach, FL had increased imports by early November and expects slightly more volume this year. The company imports asparagus from Peru year-round.
Seven Seas of Vero Beach, FL, imports Peruvian asparagus from mid-April through mid-January, and is a big item for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Mother’s Day and Easter.
Fresno, CA – With good volume of California grapes available through December, shipments are predicted to continue through year-end in the U.S., and in Canada, Mexico, and other key export markets, according to Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission.
According to Nave the 2021 crop volume has been tracking close to that of 2020 for most of the season. The 2020 crop volume was 101.1 million 19-pound boxes with 20 million boxes shipped after November 15.
Noting that harvest is still underway in some areas, Nave said that in a typical season California ships grapes throughout the U.S. and to multiple export markets into January and this year looks to be no different.
“The U.S. is a good market for California grapes,” Nave said, “and even better this season in terms of demand and price than it has been in recent years.” Noting that the U.S. retail commitment to stick with California through December – as opposed to focusing on imported grapes – remains strong, Nave added that Canada, Mexico, and Central America have all been particularly good markets this season with exports to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan steady, in spite of the worldwide shipping issues.
Following a summer of light volume avocado shipments, the U.S. market has opened up significantly this fall as supplies have increased plenty of imported Mexican fruit.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Santa Paula CA reports shipments through January are looking good and appear similar to last year.
The Hass Avocado Board of Mission Viejo, CA projected 2021 volume from Mexico, including projections for November and December, to reach about 2.4 billion pounds. That’s up slightly from 2.2 billion pounds in 2020.
Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc., of Fallbrook, CA anticipates a strong season out of Mexico with volume similar to last year.
College and professional football games, holiday parties and promotions by Avocados From Mexico all should contribute to strong shipments.
This year’s California season is complete with some avocados being imported from Chile and Colombia, but Mexico will be the primary supplier until early February, when California starts again.
Avondale, PA —The current market forces of global
supply chain shortages, transportation availability constraints, and a
drastically reduced farm labor market combined with seasonal threats of crop disease are heavily negatively impacting U.S. mushroom production. This will result in significantly reduced mushroom shipments for the holidays, according to the American Mushroom Institute.
Because the mushroom growing process integrates many other industries’ products into the growing medium for mushrooms, when availability for any single ingredient is compromised, it impacts growers’ ability to mitigate crop threats and to maximize yields. The reality is the 2021 holiday season will see greatly reduced salable mushroom pounds than in previous years.
Mushroom growers can rely on upwards of 30 different inputs or raw materials to make their growing substrate for the mushroom beds.
AMI President Rachel Roberts explained:
“Mushroom growers across the country are describing challenges not seen previously in their time working in the industry. A host of raw materials needed to grow their crops are severely limited, including outright cut-offs of certain critical inputs, for the foreseeable future. In addition to the shortages, the competition for growing medium is greater than ever, with many nurseries, home gardeners, and hobbyists using much of the same growing medium, which is also driving inflation for those products. These factors are not expected to change anytime soon.”
Additionally, the mushroom industry is fighting these challenges with a workforce of about 75% of the labor force needed to do the job.
The result of all these pressures—insufficient raw materials availability, crop disease, transportation constraints, and labor shortages—is lower supply than in previous years during the holiday season.
“We continue to work with our local, state, and federal legislators to explain the predicament that our members face every day,” Roberts said. “Our members are telling us that this is the toughest time mushroom farms have faced in more than 30 years.”
About AMI
The American Mushroom Institute (AMI), headquartered in Avondale, Pennsylvania, is a national voluntary trade association representing the growers, processors, and marketers of cultivated mushrooms in the United States and industry suppliers worldwide.
REEDLEY, CA — Fruit World, a family-owned, grower-shipper of organic and conventional fruit, is expecting a robust citrus season, particularly for this year’s organic lemon crop.
Good volumes of organic lemons from California’s desert region are anticipated through early March. Fruit World will also have diverse citrus shipments throughout the season, including organic and conventional mandarins, organic oranges, and organic specialty citrus such as sweet limes and Minneola tangelos.
“This year’s organic lemon crop is looking very strong—both in terms of volume and quality—and we’re seeing exceptional taste, appearance, and juiciness,” shared Bianca Kaprielian, Fruit World co-founder and CEO. There will be good desert, with its Central Valley ranches filling out availability through May.
Fruit World also expects a strong organic specialty citrus program this year. “This is our second year offering organic sweet limes, and we are already delivering promotable volumes which should last into December,” Kaprielian added.
Fruit World’s flagship mandarin program will kicked off in early November, starting with stem & leaf Satsumas and their proprietary Early Dulce mandarin variety. Organic Satsumas and Clementines started in November, with additional varieties available into April.
A lighter than typical season is expected for mandarins this year, a concern seen industry-wide due to excessive heat in May and June paired with last year’s large crop set affecting this year’s bloom.
The company has already started shipping the organic Rio Red grapefruit variety. It’s California-grown Rio Reds are top-notch quality and have beautiful interior color. There has been strong demand, partly due to last season’s freeze in Mexico and Texas which affected the overall grapefruit supply.
Navel oranges started shipping at the end of October, followed by Minneola tangelos in early December, with the season rounding out with Cara Caras and blood oranges starting in January.
As they plan for the future, Fruit World is expanding their specialty citrus program by planting organic mandarinquats, kumquats, lemonade lemons and more that will be available in upcoming seasons. The company also has a significant amount of mandarin and navel acreage in transition from conventional to organic, including heirloom navels in their second year of transition, so coming years should see increased organic volume.
*****
About Fruit World
Fruit World grows and ships fruit in California—including organic and conventional citrus, organic grapes, organic stone fruit.
Mexican avocado production is forecast to fall by 8% from the previous season, according to a USDA report.
The country is expected to produce 2.33 million metric tons (MMT) between July 2021 and June 2022, following a record volume year in the previous season.
“Growers state that they are expecting needed tree recovery after record productivity and production (especially in Michoacán) in the MY 2020/21 season,” the report said.
“Additionally, insufficient rainfall and high temperatures are likely to reduce production and yields in non-Michoacan producing states.”
Mexico is forecasted to export 1.33 MMT in 2021-22, 8% lower than the previous season, on lower production. Exports to the U.S. are forecasted at 1.04 MMT.
Michoacán, the only state with phytosanitary approvals to export to the U.S. typically exports approximately 85 percent of production.
Profit margins for export to the U.S. are typically more than 50 percent higher than supplies sold to the domestic market. Michoacán also exported 22 percent greater volumes in 2020/21 than the previous MY to non-U.S. markets, on increased production. Canada, Japan, and Spain were the main destinations.
International demand for avocados from Mexico continues to increase, and producers without access to the U.S. market continue to seek international markets with higher profitability than the domestic market. Jalisco exported 26 percent more volume than the previous marketing year in 2020/21, mainly to Japan, Canada, France and Spain.
Planted and harvested areas are forecasted at 561,240 acres and 558,235 acres respectively, with a national yield of 10.30 metric tons per acre.
Harvest reaches peak from October to February, with average supply from March to May, and low season from June to September.
Annual per capita consumption is seven kilograms (approximately 15 pounds) per person. While a staple in Mexican cuisine, avocado consumption has not grown in recent years because of high prices driven by increased international demand.
Mexican fruits and veggies crossing through South Texas – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Fewer Idaho potatoes are being shipped this year, but they are larger thanks to hot weather during the growing season.
All shippers were loading new crop potatoes in October, with a smooth transition reported between old crop and new crop supplies this season.
Potandon Produce of Idaho Falls, ID report fresh potato crop acreage is up this year, but the increase is primarily for process use. Additonally, it is believed there will be lower yields.
Wada Farms Markekting Group LLC of Idaho Falls notes fresh potato yields and production could drop as much as 10%.
United Potato Growers of America of Salt Lake City, UT reports acreage is should be up slightly, but yields will be down for Idaho growers this year.
UPG points out the group’s shipping forecast for the U.S. fresh potato crop is 88 million cwt., 1.9 million cwt. less than the 2020-21 crop.
Idaho is expected to ship about 32 million cwt. of fresh russets, about 1.8 million cwt. down from a year ago and the lowest shipment total in about six years.
Idaho acreage is estimated at 315,000 acres, up 6% from 296,000 a year ago.
However, 2021 yield is projected at 430 cwt. per acre, down 5% from 455 cwt. last year. Total Idaho production is anticipated at 135.45 million cwt., up from 134.5 million cwt. a year ago.
The fresh market is expected to account for 24.7% of the Idaho crop, compared with 27.1% for the fresh market in the 2020-21 season.
Idaho Falls potatoes – grossing about $7200 to Atlanta; $9200 to New York City.
Strong freight rates were the norm for refrigerated trucks last summer and the trend in September showed continued strength. Big demand for refrigerated trucks should continue into 2022, according to the latest analysis from DAT.
Spot and contract truckload rates hit new highs in September, DAT reported, as shippers dealt with historic surges of freight, constraints on equipment and drivers and an early start to the peak holiday shipping season.
“The dog days of summer for freight did not materialize this year, DAT Chief Scientist Chris Caplice said in a news release. “Instead, the combination of strong consumer demand, new and evolving supply chain bottlenecks and early proactive shipping for the holiday season kept demand for capacity at record highs.”
Caplice said DAT expects truckload pricing to remain elevated into the first quarter of 2022 and for a market correction to occur sometime in the first or second quarter.
“This ‘correction’ will likely not be a ‘freight recession’ marked by consecutive quarters of decreased volumes and overcapacity, but a return to typical growth rates as shippers and carriers across all modes adjust to changes in consumer behavior, product distribution patterns and the effects of COVID-19 on the global economy,” Caplice said in the release.
The DAT Truckload Volume Index was 229 in September, down 1% compared to August and the highest for any September on record, according to the news release. The Index is an aggregated measure of dry van, refrigerated (“reefer”) and flatbed loads moved by truckload carriers each month. A decline of 7% to 10% is more typical from August to September.
“Businesses are shipping early and, where possible, by truck in order to make sure they have inventory, but this means using the spot market or higher-priced carriers to cover their loads,” Ken Adamo, DAT Chief of Analytics, said in the release. “If you’re accustomed to having the right truck in the right place at the right price, you can have one or two of those things but probably not all three.”
The national average rate for van freight on the DAT One load board network increased 9 cents to $2.85 per mile (including a fuel surcharge), the fifth time the van rate has set a new monthly high this year, according to the release. By comparison, the rate averaged $2.37 a mile in September 2020.
At $3.25 per mile, the national average spot reefer rate was up 10 cents compared to August and was 68 cents higher year over year. The spot flatbed rate averaged $3.09 a mile, up 1 cent month over month, according to the release.
The number of loads posted to the DAT network fell 1.5% in September, according to the release, while truck posts decreased 4.5%. The national average van load-to-truck ratio was 6.3, meaning there were 6.3 loads for every van posted to the DAT network, down from 6.5 in August. The ratio was 5.4 in September 2020.
The reefer load-to-truck ratio dropped from 14.9 in August to 13.5, in line with seasonal declines in agricultural production. The flatbed ratio, DAT reported, climbed from 44.1 to 47.9, driven by single-family home construction, an increase in oil and gas activity and recovery efforts following Hurricane Ida.
DAT reported the national average contract van rate was $2.85 per mile, up 3 cents compared to August and equal to the national average spot van rate. The contract reefer rate was $2.97 per mile, also up 3 cents month over month, while the average contract flatbed rate was unchanged at $3.30 per mile.
The national average price of on-highway diesel rose 3 cents to $3.38 a gallon, increasing for the sixth straight month. The spot and contract rates reported here include a fuel surcharge, which was 36 cents per mile for van freight in September. That’s 17 cents more than it was in September 2020.
Despite what is considered an off year for production, the California Pistachio crop could be the second largest on record because of more acreage.
Coming in at about 1 billion pounds, the California crop is weighing in just under last year’s record 1.05 billion pounds. Industry leaders also predict strong domestic and international markets this year.
Pistachios rank No. 4 among California’s top agricultural commodities, behind milk, almonds and grapes. In 2020, the crop’s production value was $2.87 billion.
Industry group the American Pistachio Growers report the nuts are much smaller than normal, but there are more of them.
In July, predictions had the crop coming in between 850 million to 940 million pounds due to drought and heat, but tonnage reports from packers and processors September 30 showed higher volumes than predicted.
Growers in the San Joaquin Valley report large yields, thanks to the fertile soils, hot, arid climate and moderate winters.
Harvest started in late August and the second shakes on trees wrapped up in the third week of October.
One billion pounds is a large volume for this “off” year in the pistachio industry. Pistachios are alternate-bearing, meaning the trees produce a heavy crop yield one year and a lighter yield the next. This year is technically an “off” year for the crop, so growers say they expect a crop well above a billion pounds in 2022, an “on” year.
According to the U.S. Administrative Committee for Pistachios, Iran follows the U.S. as the world’s second largest pistachio producer, producing a total crop of more than 418 million pounds in 2020. This year, however, the Iran Pistachio Association reported that Iranian growers lost about 50% of their crop due to severe frost and heat damages.
According to a report from the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council, Turkey, the third-largest pistachio producing nation, is also expected to have a “very low” crop this year compared to average.
These global production losses leave gaps for U.S. producers to fill. About 65% to 70% of U.S. pistachios are exported, so this year’s global market is in America’s favor.