US: Mango market turns conservative in January, could heat up

After an end to the year with robust prices, the market for mangos in the United States cooled during the first month of 2016. But as the Northeastern market opens up in the wake of a big storm, supplies could get tight and prices could rise.

“It's been a conservative market compared to last month,” said Luis Orrantia of Tropical Specialists. “We started around $7.00 per flat last month on big fruit, and that's been decreasing since the start of 2016.” Prices per flat have now settled near $5.00, though Orrantia believes the market will firm up in the coming weeks.

“We have three or five more weeks of Kents coming from Peru, and volumes have been good, but shipments are going to slow down,” said Orrantia. “No one has been buying in the Northeast because of the blizzard. But when that market opens up, which is the biggest market in the United States, they'll clean up the pool of product that's here, and that will raise prices.”

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Luis Orrantia