The volume of mangos imported into the United States from Mexico has been decreasing for the last several weeks as the import season winds down. In the last few weeks, Mexican imports have lagged behind those from a year ago, and the volume of fruit brought in from Mexico this year is less than that from last year.
“We're toward the end of the mango deal from Mexico right now,” said Gary Clevenger of Freska Produce International. “We'll probably finish up around mid-September, after that we'll transition to Brazil and then Ecuador in October.” While volumes of imported fruit usually taper off during this time of the year, total fruit imported from Mexico has been down this season. For the week ending on August 16, 2014, just over 54.6 million boxes of mangos had been imported into the United States from Mexico. By the same point in the season last year, mango imports had reached 64.3 million boxes.
“It's a combination of things for why there's less volume from Mexico,” said Clevenger. “I think it's the combination of weather and off-bearing trees in some regions.” With volumes decreasing, Clevenger noted that prices have risen over the last week and a half. As of August 16, the average price for a box of Kent mangos was $4.24 at the Texas entry point and $4.13 at the Nogales entry point. Both of those figures are higher than the average prices from the previous week, by 11 percent for the Texas entry point and 14 percent for the Nogales entry point. Similarly, the average price for a box of Keitt mangos was $4.15 at the Texas entry point and $4.03 at the Nogales entry point – both of which were 11 percent higher than the average price from the previous week.
“Prices have risen over the last week and a half,” said Clevenger. “There haven't really been spikes in demand, it's just demand created from low volumes.”
For more information:
Gary Clevenger
Freska Produce International
+1 805 650 1040