Posts Tagged “mango imports”
The first shipping forecast for California kiwifruit has been issued, while we take a look at coming mango imports, and domestic apples loading opportunities.
California kiwifruit shipments are expected to be off only a little from a year ago when California growers produced 31,324 tons. An initial forecast this season, which is called by some “conservative,” estimates there will 30,449 tons of kiwi. About 98 percent of the U.S.-grown kiwifruit is produced in California.
Around 80 percent of of the crop is shipped to domestic markets, while some fruit exported, primarily to Mexico, Canada and Japan.
California kiwifruit shipments occur from late September until April
Western Fresh Marketing Services Inc., of Madera, CA. should start initial shipments the third or fourth week of September.
The Flavor Tree Fruit Co. LLC, Hanford, CA., will have 86 acres of gold kiwifruit grown under large tents this season as the company plans to ship about 50,000 cartons of gold kiwifruit from October until January and possibly February.
Mexican Mango Imports
Imported mangoes from Mexico should continue through September. Light volumes of imported mangoes from Brazil are now arriving at U.S. ports. Brazilian mango imports will peak in mid October and run until November, with a projected 7.8 million boxes.
Meanwhile, Through the week ending Aug. 12th, Mexico had shipped about 67.9 million boxes, up from about 66 million boxes through the same week in 2016.
Apple Shipments
The U.S. Apple Association projects a 248.3 million carton crop for 2017-18, which would be 8 percent smaller than last year, but right on the 5-year average.
“There’s every reason to be optimistic about this year’s apple crop,” said Mark Nicholson, co-owner of Red Jacket Orchards, Geneva, N.Y.
The estimate is only 400,000 42-pound cartons lower than the USDA estimate from a few weeks ago. The estimate came at the conclusion of the association’s annual Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference, August 24-25 in Chicago.
The Washington crop is estimated at 159.5 million cartons, 1 percent higher than the 5-year average but 8 percent smaller than last season. New York’s crop is estimated at 28 million cartons, 1 percent above the 5-year average and nearly the same as last year’s production.
A packing date is set for Vidalia sweet onions. Otherwise, primary onion loadings a taking place from two western U.S. areas. Finally, here’s the outlook for imported mangoes.
An April 12th pack date for Vidalia onions has been set by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which is about two weeks earlier than the pack dates during the past three seasons.
GDA rules mandate that no Vidalia onions can be packed or sold before the April 12 pack date. The pack date is established prior to each season to ensure the highest quality onions are delivered to retail stores for consumers across the country. The 2017 Vidalia onion crop is ahead of schedule because of the mild temperatures this winter thus resulting in the earlier pack date. Any sweet onions shipped from the Vidalia growing district prior to April 12th cannot be sold and shipped as Vidalia onions.
This is a very quiet time of year for Georgia produce shipments, with very light volume on a few items such as carrots and greens. Peach shipments are a couple of months away.
Storage Onion Shipments
The largest amount of onions coming out of domestic storages, averaging about 800 truck loads per week, is from western Idaho and nearby Malheur Co. in eastern Oregon. Similar onion volume also is be loaded from the Columbia Basin in Washington state and the adjacent Umatilla Basin of Oregon.
Idaho/Oregon onions – grossing about $4200 to Atlanta.
Southern Washington/ Northern Oregon onions – grossing about $4800 to New York City.
Mango Imports
Mango imports for markets in the U.S. are expected to be similar in volume to last year. Peruvian imported mangoes are rapidly declining as the season comes to a close, while it will be April before there is big volume crossing the border from Mexico.
U.S. consumption of mangos continues to increase as the tropical fruit becomes more mainstream than ever. Since 2005, mango volume has increased over 75 percent, from 62 million boxes in 2005 to 109 million boxes in 2016. U.S. per capita consumption has grown 58 percent since 2005 to almost three pounds per person in 2016.
Whether recent weather issues in Mexico will adversely affect quality of imported Mexican mangos remains to been seen.
Through the third week of May, a normal projection of 29 million boxes is projected, with much of this production to be imported by the U.S.
As much as 30 to-40 percent of the Mexican mango crop was reported affected by winds. This is expected to decrease import volume by U.S. importers in February, but quality appears normal — so far. Mexico ships mangos most of the year and various production regions begin at different times.
Volume for imported mangos from Peru has increased 20 to 30 percent from last year after a bumper crop in a season that started earlier than usual. Peak volume imports to the U.S. are occurring, but will start declining in the next couple of weeks or so.
Mango imports by the U.S. during January included much less fruit from Ecuador than last season, down from about 18.5 million pounds to about 3.5 million pounds. This was due to the Ecuador season starting two to three weeks earlier than usual. Peak season for imported mangos from Ecuador is mid October through mid November (last year). The season is now virtually complete, with the exception of one late season variety that will continue until March.
Total mango imports by the U.S. during January were about 32 million pounds, down from about 52 million pounds for the same period last year. The big decline was due to a change in timing for one country’s season.
The Peruvian mango season was early by about four weeks in 2016, resulting in peak volumes to be shipped earlier in December and well into January of 2017. Last year this time, Peru had already pretty much finished their season.
Imported Mexican tropical fruit, and vegetables through the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas – grossing $1100 to Dallas; and $3200 to Miami.
Imports of Argentina blueberries and Mangoes from South America should be very good this season.
Argentina growers should export about 17,500 tons of fresh blueberries this season, of which two-thirds likely will be arrive in the U.S. and Canada. A year ago, the U.S. and Canada received only 10,280 tons of blueberries from Argentina, due to adverse growing conditions. The weather seems to have improved a lot this year.
Light exports were under way to the U.S. Brazil, and Europe in late August, with the first U.S. arrivals taking place in early September. Peak season arrivals will happen in late October, before the season concludes by the end of November.
Mango Imports
A late surge of mango imports from Mexico and an early start in Ecuador should mean a lot of mango imports this fall. Mexico should ship about 74 million boxes of mangoes this season, up from 64 million boxes a year ago.
Peak Brazilian imports have been in September. However, with the heavy volume of Mexican fruit being imported, most Brazilian fruit imports were arriving at ports and being hauled by truck to markets in the eastern half of the country. Meanwhile Mexican mangos are being delivered to in heavy volume to the West Coast.
Even with the record late-season volumes out of Mexico this season, and record volume crops are also possible from Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. In addition to the glut, appearance issues were hurting demand for late-season Mexican fruit, although eating quality has been excellent.
Mexican volumes are now finally starting to wind. Brazilian import volumes are expected to start peaking around the second week of October. Brazil is expected to ship about 8 million boxes this year, similar to a year ago. Ecuador should produce about 10.8 million boxes, up slightly from last year.
Peru mango imports to the U.S. should get underway in November, with imported expected to be up about 10 percent from last year’s 9.3 million boxes.
South Texas crossings with Mexican mangoes, other tropical fruit, tomatoes and vegetables – grossing about $2000 to Chicago.
Late summer in the U.S. means increasing imports of items ranging from Canadian potatoes to various tropical fruits from several countries.
Prince Edward Island Potato Shipments
Prince Edward Island potato shipments from Eastern Canada could be down slightly this year due to less yields and planted acreage. Potato diggings typically start in late September. For example, Garden Isle Farms, Albany, Prince Edward Island, expects to begin digging the week of September 26th.
PEI potato growers have about 89,000 acres of potatoes were planted this year, 500 less than in 2015. PEI’s fresh-crop mix of russets, yellows, reds and whites should remain fairly steady, with the trend of fewer white potatoes continuing. Harvest should begin in the last week of September, with russets following at the beginning of October,
Processing markets may take a little higher percentage of the crop this year, with about 30 percent going to the fresh market. While some growers are looking at new yellow varieties, production still remains mostly russets.
Mango Imports
With Mexican imported mangos finishing the season within the next week or so, the focus will shift to Brazilian imported mangoes. Boats of Brazilian fruit began arriving at U.S. ports in August and should continue until November, with the peak volume coming in mid- to late October. Additionally imported mangoes are arriving from Ecuador and arrivals should hit record levels in late October or early November.
Pineapple Imports
Pineapples from Costa Rica face a normal production gap from mid-August to mid-September and it has been a so-so season due to weather factors.
Papaya Imports
Boat arrivals of golden papaya out of Brazil should experience increased volume by the second week of September. There also are papaya imports from Guatemala.
Lime Imports
Imported limes are arriving from Mexico, Ecuador, Columbia and Guatemala. Volumes are now increasing some, but are considered to be normal.
Mango imports are up significantly this season. Plus, we take a final look at Northwest cherry shipments.
Brazil Mango Imports
The U.S., the National Mango Board (NMB) has released its latest update from Mexico and Brazil as of August 6, 2016 and reports volume arriving into the U.S. is up nearly one million boxes from last year.
Mango volume shipping the first week of August is about 2.6 million boxes. During the same week last year, volume was around 1.7 million boxes. These numbers brought the total mango volume to over 80,5 million boxes arriving mostly at U.S. ports.
The Brazilian mango shipping season runs from July through November, with a projected 8 million boxes forecast.
As of August 6, volume shipped from Brazil was 322,298 boxes for a total of 372,530 thus far this season. This volume is up an approximate 84,242 boxes from last year at the same time.
Mexico Mango Imports
Additionally, the Mexican mango shipping season, which began in January and will run through October, is expected to provide the U.S. with about 66.5 million boxes of mangos.
At this point last year, volume from Mexico was composed of a total of over 64 millions boxes. This number is slightly lower this year, with a total of 63.1 million cartons.
Though the overall volume is lower as of right now, weekly imports are on the rise. During the week of August 6 last year, volume arrived from Mexico was approximately 1.7 million. This year, that number has significantly increased with volume arriving from Mexico on the same week at around 2.6 million boxes.
Cherry Shipments
Northwest cherry growers shipped nearly 21 million pounds of fruit this year. Some are describing the crop as “vintage” and the “best eating” fruit in many years.
Due to the larger sized cherries, forecasters changed their estimates upwards. On June 1, this year’s crop was estimated at 19.6 million boxes, but by August 4th, the last estimate of the season, it had risen to 20. 8 million boxes, thanks not only to bigger sizes but to less drop on some varieties.
Shipments of both avocado and mangoes are on the rise and will continue to increase as we get further into the year.
California avocado shipments are now providing steady loadings for produce truckers from both southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. The California harvest is now exceeding 10 million pounds per week and will continue to increase through the spring. Shipments are expected to peak in late June, and remain strong throughout 2016. A significant dip in avocado shipments is not expected until after the Super Bowl, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston.
While California avocado shipments tend to be hauled to markets in the western half of the U.S., much of the avocado supply for U.S. markets is coming from Mexico, which tends to serve destinations in the eastern half of the U.S. Mexican avocado shipments also are heavy this year, with the majority of imports crossing the border at McAllen, Tx.
Huron head lettuce and San Joaquin Valley citrus – grossing about $5600 to New York City.
Mango Imports
Mexican mango shipments imported to the USA were unseasonably low during March. For the week ending on March 19, 1.2 million boxes arrived from Mexico, making it 4.8 million boxes for the season. That is down from the same week in 2015, when 1.5 million boxes arrived and 5.9 million boxes had come in for the season. However, mango imports are now on the rise and big volume supplies are crossing the border from Mexico, as well as arriving at US ports by boat from Guatemala.
Lower Rio Grande Valley citrus, Mexican mangos, tomatoes, vegetables – grossing about $2600 to Chicago.
Here’s an update on the Michigan apple shipments, as well as U.S. potatoes, and mango imports from South America.
Michigan’s apple growers will harvest approximately 24 million bushels of apples this year for the 2015-16 shipping season. In 2014, Michigan shipped 24 million bushels (1.008 billion pounds) of apples, after shipping a record crop of 30 million bushels in 2013. In 2012 Michigan had only three million bushels, due to extreme weather conditions.
Apples are Michigan’s largest and most valuable fruit crop. The state ranks third in national in apple shipments, behind Washington and New York.
Potatoes
It is estimated U.S. fall potato shipments for 2015-16 will be 404 million hundredweight, slightly higher than the 403.7 million loadings for the 2014-15 season….North Dakota potato loadings are expected to come in at 23.5 million cwt., down 1.6% from a year ago.
Mango Imports
Peak U.S. arrivals of mangos from Brazil are expected to begin arriving this week, while imports from Ecuador will be arriving late this year.
The Brazilian season, which started in August, is running a little lighter than last year’s crop, although it’s on par with volumes from previous seasons. Total imports are expected to reach 6.7 million boxes by the time it wraps up in November.
Ecuador mango imports should be delayed this season because of cool weather. While shipments usually ramp up in October, sizable volumes could be delayed to as late as November. Additionally, it is estimated cooler weather could cut yields by 20 to 25 percent.
Here’s an update on Washington state apple shipments, as well as the new crop of Florida avocados, and Mexican mango imports.
While Florida is pretty darned quiet this time of year when it comes to hauling fresh produce, the new crop of avocados has just started being harvested. Volume will gradually increase throughout the month before hitting stride in early July. Shipments will continue into next March, or perhaps early April. About 1 million bushels will be shipped, similar to the 1.17 million bushels hauled last season.
Mango Shipments
This year’s mango volume has seen shipments of more than 4 million boxes weekly; an 18 percent increase compared to the largest week in 2014,
Volumes are expected to remain steady through the second quarter of 2015. Mexican mango imports are expected to be 3 percent higher than 2013, which was a record-breaking year for Mexican mango imports.
The forecast is for about 36 million boxes of mangos to be imported during this year’s second quarter.
Imported Mexican mangos, melons and vegetables through McAllen, Tx – grossing about $3200 to Chicago.
Washington Apple Shipments
Fruit transporters are dumping millions of pounds of apples across Washington, leaving them to rot under hot sun. State officials call the dumps “historic.” In Pateros, a hillside is covered with rows of Red Delicious apples. Trucks pull up several times a day, unloading thousands of apples on top of sage brush and flowers.
Washington growers produced the highest volume of apples on record, plus labor disputes at Washington ports have left cargo sitting, sometimes for weeks. The Washington State Tree Fruit Association estimates $95 million in lost sales due to apples that could not ship. Growers suffered further deficits from longer storage periods.
The Feds recently helped bail out the industry by purchasing millions of dollars of apples for school lunch programs.
Yakima Valley apples – grossing about $7000 to Miami.
Here’s an outlook on loading opportunities for imported mangoes and watermelons for the next few months.
Cool weather has slowed watermelon shipments in Mexico crossing the border into the U.S., both at Nogales, AZ and South Texas until the middle of March. The good news is Mexican watermelon shipments could be up 20 percent from last year by the last half of March.
Mango shipments could be light until March, when Mexico and Guatemala start shipping in volume.
Peruvian mango volumes were increasing on a limited basis in the second half of January.
At the same time Ecuadorian mango imports to the U.S. should wind down by the end of January. About 8.9 million boxes of Ecuadorian fruit had shipped to the U.S. as of January. 10th.
Peru is expected to ship about 8.9 million boxes to the U.S. this season Through January 10th, about 1.6 million boxes of Peruvian fruit had been received, 21 percent less than was projected for that date.
Mexican mango exports should start arriving at American ports in mid-February and Guatemalan exports about a week later.
Peruvian mango imports will likely peak in early February at U.S. ports before tapering off. Imported mango loading opportunities won’t likely return to seasonal norms until Mexico and Nicaragua ramp up in the middle of March.
Mexican mixed vegetables and melons crossing at Nogales, AZ – grossing about $4100 to Chicago.
Citrus, mixed vegetables, melons, mangos and tomatoes from South Texas and/or Mexico – grossing about $5200 to New York City.