“Guatemala has peaked and is starting to dwindle down a bit while Mexico is starting up,” says Andres Ocampo of Pompano Beach, Fl.-based HLB Specialties. “These are the two countries giving most of their mangoes to the US market. Mexico will go all the way through August, sometimes into September. It depends on how the weather behaves. So in September we may still see some Mexican mangoes.” Ocampo notes that traditionally, the beginning of the year holds high demand for mango. “But right now, there’s enough fruit to promote,” he says. “There’s not a flood of fruit like there is later in the summer, so I would say it’s a balanced market.”
Sizing looked smaller
Ocampo says he saw over the Guatemalan season that some sizes were smaller than usual. “But that changed throughout the season as the rains hit. Then the sizes get larger,” he says. “That the smaller sizing put some pressure on the pricing as well. The lack of rain produced that.”
As the Mexican market moves into the summer months, Ocampo sees volume picking up and prices dropping. “Because as demand picks up so does production and usually in the summer, there are lower prices for mangoes,” he says. Right now, prices are declining compared to just under two months ago. “We were seeing prices $1-2 higher,” he says. “And we expect to see those same prices go lower by May. The seasons could still be transitioning and then by June, we’ll see the bulk of the Mexican production come in.”
For more information:
Andres Ocampo
HLB Specialties
Tel: +1 (954) 475 8808
andres@hlbspec.com
http://hlbspecialties.com/