Peru kicks off blueberry season early
Overview of the Peruvian blueberry supply, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on August 17, 2021.
Also on offshore production, Argentina will start shipping at the end of September and Chile will begin its production in December. “I see a good strong offshore season,” says Bhatti. “I’ve heard Chile is a bit behind. Usually they start the first week in December but I’ve heard it may be closer to the end of December and into January.”
Mexico also started
Meanwhile, a few regions in Mexico began production last week. “We should start to see some decent volume come on this week, with certain regions going through May.
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)
British Colombia is also still producing some fruit. “B.C. has been hit with extreme heat several times in the last few weeks and could finish up sooner than later as the quality of the fruit has been getting worse every week. Some growers may make it through the end of August. But most will be done a lot sooner,” said Bhatti. “The market last week was $12-$14 and this week you can’t find much. But if there is fruit in B.C., pricing on pints has gone up to $18-$22 FOB.”
The domestic season is winding down as well. On the West Coast, Bhatti notes that Oregon and Washington, two regions that have also seen heat waves this summer, are still going. But given the most recent heat wave, he says he’s not sure about how arrivals will be affected. “The market has gone up to $20-$22 pretty much all across the U.S.,” says Bhatti
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)
Domestic weather issues
And in the East, New Jersey also still has some fruit available and Michigan is still producing. “Michigan has seen a lot of rain. They should go into September, though that depends on what the recent storms have done to the crops,” he says.
Meeting all of these tighter supplies is stronger demand for blueberries–demand that has increased this week. “It’s steady and strong because the market showed $10-$14 on pints on Wednesday last week. Price has increased significantly since last Thursday and strong demand has sucked up a lot of fruit. The market has adjusted to the $20-$24+ range.”
Looking ahead, pricing will continue to climb. “It’s already increasing. It will keep increasing by $1-2 per week for the next two months through October. I see the FOB market on pints being between $30-$34 by mid-to-late September,” Bhatti says. “And then potentially getting up to $38-$40. Then, by the middle to end of October, pricing should start declining as it has over the last several years , and we should see pricing on pints in the $20-24 FOB range by Thanksgiving.”
The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.
Access the original article with this (Link)