Market Update for Table Grapes

Week of November 10 – November 16

California table grape weekly shipments continue to hover close to 4 million boxes, so with just over 11 million boxes currently in storage, the state should have enough fruit to last into December. We have seen increased interest for imported Peruvian grapes, but the volumes exported to date are not nearly sufficient to support a full transition. With only 550K boxes exported week 44, compared to over 850K this same time last year, Peru continues to trend lower. Tariffs are certainly playing a part, but now significant rain last week in Piura will add another twist. Retailers will have to be nimble and likely keep sourcing fruit from both California and Peru to get through to the end of December. Spot markets have jumped significantly, as availability of quality fruit keeps declining. Quality on Peruvian fruit has been good so far, but we could see some condition issues in 3 weeks when rained on fruit finds its way into the market.

Red Seedless

With just over 2 million boxes of Allison, Timco and Jack Salutes in California cold storages, marketers are hoping to keep shipping quality fruit for another 4 weeks. After recent rains, we have started to see some quality issues, but overall condition is still hanging in. Even if retailers wanted to switch to imports, there is just not enough fruit on water to support that move. Week 44 saw only 240K boxes of red grapes exported to the U.S. and we will need to see those numbers reach 1 million boxes before the industry can truly make a full transition to South America. Currently, the spot market for California fruit ranges from $22.95 to $26.95, with the mostly market at $24.95. Early arrivals of Peruvian red grapes are trading from $32.00 to $34.00 FOB East Coast.

Green Seedless

Volumes of the best quality California fruit are in the hands of just a few major growers, as most of the industry will struggle to supply their customers with green grapes past Thanksgiving. Most of the Autumn Kings in California cold storages are programmed at pricing ranging from $28.95 to $32.95 FOB and Autumn Crisp at $36.95 and higher, so there will be very limited supplies available for the spot market. With every inconsistent California arrival, interest for Peruvian fruit grows. We won’t see significant arrivals from Peru until the first two weeks in December, so we can expect to see elevated spot pricing for the next 4 weeks minimum. Currently, Sweet Globes from northern Peru are trading between $36.00 and $38.00 FOB East Coast, with Autumn Crisp fetching more than $40.00 FOB.