With one region winding down its mandarin shipments, other countries around the world are gearing up their citrus programs which include exports to the U.S.
Morocco: Murcott mandarin shipments are finishing up soon from Morocco. "We're receiving the last shipment of those here soon and we're going to try to carry that as much as we can through May," says GT Parris of Seald Sweet, noting the quality of Moroccan Murcotts has been strong this season.
Demand for the fruit has been steady and that's anticipated to strengthen next month. "California is still producing heavy amounts of their Murcotts but we think especially by mid-May that if you can carry and hold your Moroccan fruit, there could be a good need for those at that time," says Parris.
South Africa: Imports from South Africa should begin towards the end of May. "We're trying to bring enough in so that we don't overlap too much or not at all," says Parris. "We do feel that there's going to be a need, especially on the East Coast, for that late-May to early June clementines."
Last year, citrus from South Africa had challenges due to rain. However this year the season is bouncing back and Seald Sweet anticipates strong quality fruit with a crop that may be greater by about 10 percent.
Navel oranges will also begin shipping on July 1st. "California is struggling right now on small bagging sizes and is using larger sizes to cover bagging orders. So we're hoping to bring in some smaller navels even by late June," says Parris. Midknight oranges should begin in late September and go through October.
Peru: Like South Africa, Peru will also kick off at the end of May. "Early indications in some fields are that they are about 40 percent down on early clementines over last year," says Parris, noting that El Nino has affected agriculture in Peru, particularly over the last two years. Higher than average fall and winter temperatures have affected the maturity in the color of the fruit. "It's not detrimental but we're hoping that we can pick up with South African fruit. We'll still have some–just not as much."
However, by July-August, the middle of Peru's season, supply should strengthen from Peru.
As for mandarin pricing, it's very similar to last year. "In the retail market, we're seeing retailers not wanting to increase prices," he says, adding that some costs on ocean freight and inland freight have gone down. "That should help with returns back to the tree," adds Parris.
Argentina: Lemons should start arriving at the end of May and, like California with its rains, the fruit should be on the larger side as well also due to rains–so gearing more towards the 115s and 95s. "The 140s will be a tighter item and could be in higher demand which is what California is also facing right now," says Parris. "Argentina will have good volume this year so we're going to try and promote a lot of lemons all through the summer."
When Argentina first began shipping lemons to North America, they were largely an East Coast item. However last year shipments started going to both coasts which in turn, offers a greater spread in fruit distribution and doesn't overload the East Coast. "It kept a nice balance and kept things moving and we're hoping for the same thing this year," says Parris.
Chile: Chile's lemon crop this year is also larger. "This could help out because typically Chile usually runs a little bit smaller than Argentina so we could have a nice balance when Chile comes in around mid to late July," says Parris.
Chile will continue to ship lemons to both coasts.
Chile will also begin shipping navel oranges in July like South Africa.
Mexico: The Mexican lemon program should begin in late August and that should go through October. "It's still early. Last year, Mexico was considerably down on its lemon program so hopefully this year is better. It's all depending on their weather," says Parris.
For more information:
G.T. Parris
Seald Sweet
Tel: +1 (772) 569-2244
[email protected]
www.sealdsweet.com