Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
A 25 percent decline in Argentine lemon exports are estimated compared to a year ago. This would result in producing only 190,000 metric tons (MT) this coming season, according to a report by the USDA.
Reasons for the projected decline is due to a decrease in production, available fruit supply in the Northern Hemisphere’s fruit-producing countries and strong competition from South Africa.
Exporters are also concerned about the continued threat of fruit rejections by the EU due to the presence of Citrus Black Spot (CBS) as occurred in the 2019-20 season.
Lemon exports to the U.S. for the 2020-21 season are estimated to be about 40,000MT. However, this is an uncertain estimate due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumption patterns.
Argentine lemon production forecasts at 1.03MMT, a 30 percent decrease in comparison to last year, due to cold damage early in the season and dry growing conditions. A drought is restricting production of all citrus fruit in Argentina by reducing fruit size. This season fresh lemons for processing are forecast to decrease significantly to 731,000 MT, down 31.5 percent compared to 2019-20, as a result of the decrease in production.
Avocado shipments are expected to be strong with stable volumes over the coming weeks, with an increase in the run-up to the Super Bowl.
The Del Rey Avocado Company reports supplies have been steady over recent weeks, hitting around 50 million pounds per week into the U.S. market.
This pace is likely to continue as volumes are expected to pick up in the new year. A weekly increase in volume to match the demand for the Super Bowl is seen from the middle to the end of January. However, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. market will see volumes of up to 78 million pounds per week for two or three weeks as in previous years.
Mission Produce notes Mexico is producing good volumes through December and leading into the Super Bowl on February 7, the biggest avocado sales period of the year. Volumes over 50 million pounds through December and will continue to grow as we get closer to the Big Game.
A revised estimate of the production and exports of Chilean cherries predicts an even greater increase compared to what was announced in early November.
The Asoex Chilean Cherry Committee, exports of 326,184 metric tons (MT) (63,236,847 cartons of 5 kg) are predicted, which would be an increase of 38.3 percent over last season. The original estimate was expected to reach 310,352 MT. The figure was also a record in exports for the Latin American country.
Among the top countries receiving Chilean cherry exports are the U.S. South Korea, Brazil, China, India, Vietnam and Thailand.
Mexican avocado imports by the U.S. are expected to experience higher volume this year than last.
Growers in Mexico will export 2.3 billion pound of avocados to the U.S. in 2020-21, up from just over 2 billion pounds during the 2019-20 season according to The Mexican Hass Avocados Importers Association.
Summer avocado shipments from California and Peru have given way to Mexican fruit, giving Mexico a 96 percent market share.
The Oppenheimer Group of Vancouver, British Columbia announced in October that it had acquired a 65 percent stake in Eco Farms of Temecula, CA, which has increased its year-round supplies of avocados.
The focus now is on Mexico, which is ramping up production and moving towards the peak of its 2020-21 season.
About half the business at Henry Avocado Corp. of Escondido, Calif., has been with restaurants and other institutions, which have cut back orders.
Overall shipments have been higher than last year because of lower prices and increased sales to retailers, but still nothing like they should have been due to the crash in foodservice business.
Calavo Growers Inc. of Santa Paula, CA will have about 20 percent more product from Mexico to sell from this year’s regular crop out of Mexico than last year.
Index Fresh Inc., Riverside, CA expects a crop 15 t 20 percent larger than any average crop since 2015.
More imports of Chilean grapes are expected this season due to favorable weather and abundant rainfall, according to a USDA.
Chilean table grape exports to all destinations are expected to reach 620,000 metric tons in 2020-21, a 1.6 percent increase compared with the previous year. The U.S. imports about 46 percent of Chile’s table grapes, followed in volume by China.
The USDA report state, “Rainfall was abundant, especially in the month of June and climatic conditions during the spring have been favorable, thus fruit producers are expecting higher production volumes.”
Chilean fresh apple exports will total 655,000 metric tons, a 3.9 percent increase compared with last season, while pear exports are projected to decline by 4.3 percent to 111,000 metric tons because of a decline in pear planted area.
Grape expectations
Area planted to table grapes in Chile dropped by 4.9 percent in the 2020-21 season, and now totals about 113,000 acres.
Even so, the report said Chilean grape production will remain unchanged from last season and total 780,00 metric tons. The largest drops in table grape planted area were 11.8 percent in the Atacama region and 14.1 percent in the Metropolitana region.
“Table grape production and exports has become very competitive due to the increase in production and exports from Peru, and demand for new varieties of table grapes in destination markets,” the report read.
Varieties like red globe and flame seedless have low margins, and growers have replaced acreage of those varieties with newer grape varieties or alternative crops.
By Wish Farms
Plant City, FL – International grower and year-round marketer of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, Wish Farms, is adding acreage to its Florida strawberry farm operation.
The purchase adds just over 800 acres of land, around 600 of which will be designated for farming. The remainder is natural wetlands, which will be left undisturbed for biodiversity and environmental sustainability.
While the farm is over 90% of the popular and successful Sweet Sensation variety, the company is always on the hunt for the next best tasting strawberry. Several rows are dedicated to 100 new variety and seedling trials. Nearly seven acres have been planted with the highly anticipated white strawberry. Wish Farms has branded them Pink-A-Boo Pineberries.
“I believe there will be strong demand for Pink-A-Boos in the coming years, and this land will allow us to expand that program without having to reduce our red strawberry acreage,” said Owner Gary Wishnatzki.
Wish Farms is farming 55 acres of it this coming season, with a gradual ramp up of usage in each season following.
About Wish Farms:
Founded in 1922, Wish Farms is a fourth-generation, family operated company. As a year-round supplier of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, it grows both conventional and organic varieties.
Florida tomato shipments are increasing with improved weather, although a slow start to the season was due to Hurricane Eta.
Planted acreage and the mix of varieties should be similar to 2019. Round slicer or beefsteak tomatoes account for almost 70 percent of the crop, with plum/romas, grape and cherry tomatoes comprising most of the rest.
Florida has about 50 commercial tomato growers, all together creating a nine-month season. The tomato season in Northern Florida begins in early October, as the harvest works its way down the peninsula throughout the fall and winter.
The harvest then heads back up the peninsula to central Florida in the spring and to northern Florida in the early summer, usually ending by the Fourth of July.
West Coast Tomato, Palmetto, Fla., reports it began harvesting in late October.
The company has a packing house in Palmetto, with farms in Manatee County in central Florida and Immokalee in southwest Florida.
The USDA reports the value of Florida’s tomato production was $425.9 million in 2019 compared to $344.1 million in 2018.
That’s an $81.8 million increae while at the same time, farmers planted 2,000 fewer acres of tomatoes, from 29,000 acres in 2018 to 27,000 acres in 2019.
However, Category 5 Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle in October 2018, destroying tomatoes about to be harvested.
Farmers yielded 280,000 pounds of tomatoes per acre in 2018, compared to 300,000 pounds per acre in 2019.
Looking at the 2020 calendar year’s winter, spring and early fall harvesting seasons, the state shipped 35 million pounds of tomatoes through November 18, compared to 68.7 million pounds during the same time frame in 2019.
Texas produce and Mexican produce shipments will be gaining steam in the weeks ahead.
The Texas International Produce Association of Mission, TX reports Lone Star State citrus is starting; plus Texas herbs are being harvested and Texas cabbage will be available soon.
Onions are in the ground and Mexican imports of tomatoes, berries, tropical fruit, squash, bell peppers and more will be increasing.
Texas green and red cabbage started within the past week and Grow Farms Texas of Donna, TX will have Texas-grown onions for shipping in April and May.
The company has planted more Texas cabbage and is looking to expand its Texas onion volume. Grow Farms Texas has Italian sweet red onions planted for harvest in late April and May, depending on the weather.
Little Bear Produce of Edinburg, TX has leafy green, herbs and cabbage beginning in November.
Mexican Produce Imports
Mexican infrastructure has been off the charts allowing Texas as an additional port of entry option to Nogales.
Central Mexico is closer to the U.S. East Coast allowing the firm more a year-round option for many items.
“This upcoming season Grow Farms Texas will be increasing its Mexico winter vegetables.
The company will have good supplies of cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeños, serranos, anaheims and poblanos. Cucumbers started the first week of November, while bell peppers are starting in mid-December. Hot peppers are available year-round from Mexico and has provided big growth.
Beating both Pharr, Texas, and Nogales, Ariz., the port of Laredo, Texas, was the top entry point for Mexican tomatoes from October 2019 to September.
With 13,238 truckloads, Laredo beat Pharr’s total of 9,760 (40,000-pound) truckloads and the 9,726 truckloads crossings through Nogales, according to the USDA.
Other important crossing points for Mexican tomatoes during the period were Otay Mesa, CA (1,798 truckloads); and Roma, Texas (1,498 truckloads).
Avocado export volumes from Mexico were up by five percent from January to October of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
Volumes topped one million metric tons (MT), according to the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture. The value of exports, however, fell by seven percent for the same 10-month period with amounts registering at about $2.5 billion. For the entire 2019 year, Mexican avocado exports worldwide amounted to $3.1 billion dollars.
In past years, avocado consumption has risen consistently from 1.1 billion pounds 2008 to 2.6 billion in 2018, an annual increase of nine percent.
Hass avocados, dominate the U.S imports representing about 95 percent of the avocados consumed in the United States and 80 percent worldwide. The U.S. Hass avocado industry, in particular, had a value of $6.5 billion in 2019, according to the USDA.
The Hass Avocado Board of Mission Viejo, CA notes in 2017, nearly half of U.S. households bought avocados. However, most of the avocados sold in the US are imported from other countries.
In 2018, for example, 76 percent of the America’s total consumption was imported from Mexico The total export amount of Mexican avocados bound for the United States in 2019 tallied to approximately $2.4 million.
Peruvian lime exports are being threatened because of a drought in the northern part of the country, just a few weeks before the beginning of the peak summer shipping season.
The Association of Citrus Producers of Peru (ProCitrus) reports a possible shortage of the fruit and if the rains continue to be insufficient for the next two months.
A drought will lead to a plunge in production, either due to smaller sizes or because each acre yields fewer tons. It all depends on whether the drought continues. It is expected in the coming weeks the rains will begin to normalize, but if the drought continues, there could be a shortage.
The rains have been well below normal. Because of this, access to reservoir water has been restricted. Among citrus products, lime has the heaviest production in northern Peru.
In particular, it is found around Piura, the city that produced more than half of the national lime production in 2016.
Following in production are the cities Lambayeque, Tumbes, and the region Loreto, all in northern Peru. In the region of Piura, there are 45,351 acres designated for lime crops, distributed among the main producing valleys: San Lorenzo has 26,430 acres, while Chira has 10,991 acres and Chulucanas follows with 3,590 acres.
Limes are harvested the year around, but the months leading up to summer are considered the most important period of the year.
The lime varieties produced in Peru are Sutil and Tahiti. The former stays within the domestic market, while the latter is increasingly grown for export purposes. In 2019, 9,000 metric tons (MT) of Tahiti limes were exported, which represented a 55 percent increase from 2018.