Market Update for Table Grapes
Week of April 15 – April 21
Week 14 exports took a precipitous drop, with only 1.6 million boxes of all varieties headed to the U.S. market. This was a much bigger adjustment than projected, so Mexican supplies can’t come fast enough. Unfortunately, timing for Hermosillo is still about one full week behind. Jalisco growers have stepped up crossing of proprietary green seedless and some U.S. retailers are stepping in, hoping to stabilize their supply. Sonora production is not expected to get going until the 10th of May on green and the 15th of May for early red, so importers of South American grapes are going to try and stretch out their declining volumes for another 5 weeks. This should keep the current wide range in spot pricing with us through the balance of the month.
Red Seedless
The red seedless market is becoming clearer, with less variables impacting spot market pricing. Mexican volumes are still more than 5 weeks away and sharply declining exports from Chile will send pricing even higher by the end of the month. Overall better quality of red grapes compared to green will eventually create more demand putting even more pressure on pricing. We saw only 800,000 boxes exported week 14 from Chile, which indicates that spot FOBs will exceed $40.00 by the end of the month. Currently, pricing ranges from $36.00 to $38.00 for large and XLG Crimsons, Timcos and Allison.
Green Seedless
We saw the heaviest arrivals of Chilean green seedless over the past 7 days, with a wide range of condition and quality making the spot market a bit complicated. Volumes from Chile will decline rapidly though, as the April USDA marketing order now requires fruit to make a U.S. #1 grade on arrival. Some retailers have started pulling fruit from Jalisco, Mexico adding another wrinkle for Chilean marketers to pay attention to. We saw spot market pricing adjust lower last week, but mostly for weaker fruit that needs to be moved quickly. Currently, prices range from $36.00 to $40.00 for good quality Chilean XLG Sweet Globes and Thompsons. Jalisco fruit is trading between $40.00 and $42.00 FOB.