With fewer mangos coming from Mexico, the market for mangos in the United States is tight. Peak volumes from Brazil are still a couple of weeks away and peak volumes from Ecuador are more than a month away, so the gap in supplies could mean strong prices for several weeks.“Supplies from Mexico are finishing up,” said Gary Clevenger of Freska Produce International. “Overall volume is down from last year.” As of the fourth week in September, mango imports from Mexico totalled just over 57 million boxes. The total imports from Mexico for the same week last year were almost 15 million boxes more than that. While imports this year kept pace with those from last year for most of the season, the last couple of months have seen a drop in the amount of fruit arriving from Mexico. While imports from Mexico were almost 700,000 boxes for the fourth week of September in 2013, this year's weekly shipments for the fourth week of September were just over 250,000 boxes.
Because supplies from Mexico dropped off earlier than usual, there's a larger gap between the Mexican season and the Brazilian season.
“Brazil is at peak packing this week, so we'll see those arrivals around the middle of October,” said Clevenger. “Ecuador won't peak until mid to late November.” That's making for stiff prices. As of October 2, F.O.B. prices for fruit arriving in Philadelphia from South America ranged between $9.00 and $10.50 for a box of Tommy Atkins mangos.
“Prices are higher due to less volume and Mexico ending earlier,” explained Clevenger. “We're going to have a serious gap for the next couple of weeks, so prices will remain high. The market will remain steady from now until the middle of October, then we'll have peak volumes out of Brazil.”
For more information:
Gary Clevenger
Freska Produce International
+1 805 650 1040