Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on selected commodities from Mexico crossing through Nogales, Ariz.:

Honeydew melons, 2/3 cartons of 5s mostly $4.95-5.35, 6s mostly $3-3.65, 8s mostly $3-3.50.

Watermelons, cartons per pound red flesh seeded 3s 14-16 cents, 4s 14-16 cents; seedless 4s 18-20 cents, 5s mostly 18 cents, 6s mostly 12-14 cents, 8s mostly 8-10 cents.

Beans, 30-pound cartons round green mostly $18.95.

Cucumbers, 1 1/9 bushel cartons medium mostly $12.95, small mostly $8.95, large mostly $8.95; cartons 24s $5.95-6.95, 36s mostly $7.95.

Bell peppers, 1 1/9 bushel cartons green jumbo $6.95-8.95, extra-large $6.95-8.95, large mostly $6.95, medium mostly $5.95-6.95, small mostly $5.95; red extra-large mostly $18.95, medium mostly $16.95; 15-pound red extra large $12.95-14.95; greenhouse 11-pound cartons orange extra-large $22.95-24.95, large $20.95-22.95; red extra large $18.95-20.95, large mostly $18.95, yellow extra-large mostly $20.95, large $18.95-20.95; organic 15-pound cartons green extra-large mostly $18-18.45, large mostly $18-18.45.

Squash, 4/7 bushel cartons zucchini small mostly $14.95, small-medium mostly $14.95, medium mostly $12.95; yellow straightneck small $14.95-16.95, small-medium $14.95-16.95, medium $12.95-14.95.

Tomatoes, greenhouse one-layer flats vine-ripes 32s $22.85-24.85, 35s $20.85-22.85, 39s mostly $18.95, 45s 16.95-18.85; organic greenhouse 15-pound cartons 32s $24.45-25, 35s $24.45-25.

*Prices from the USDA's National F.O.B. Review, Dec. 12.

The Shipping Scene

For the most part, the West Mexico deal through Nogales, Ariz., is off to a slow start this season, but volume should pick up shortly after the first of the year, shippers say.

Field tomato products have been delayed because bad weather pushed back plantings in September, and weather has continued to be cooler than usual, said Chuck Thomas, owner/president of Thomas Produce Sales Inc.

"They just aren't quite ready yet," he said.

As a result, markets are extremely high on roma tomatoes, he said, and two-layer cartons of vine-ripe tomatoes were just starting to arrive in Nogales with prices in the high $20s to low $30s range.

"That won't last very long," he said, because many players were preparing to start shipments within the next 10 days or so, and that, coupled with the post-holiday drop in demand likely will lead to lower prices.

Thomas also pointed out that growing conditions remained good in the Eastern U.S., and volume leaving the West was lighter because of high fuel costs.

Supplies of West Mexico yellow squash currently are tight because some growers stopped shipping as a result of low prices, Thomas said. Supplies should pick up again after Christmas. Zucchini supplies are not quite as tight.

Supplies of bell peppers are plentiful and prices were a low $8 a carton, even for jumbo and extra-large sizes, he said.

"We have a lot of big, new peppers and not much movement," Thomas said.

Squash was the most popular item this week at Premium Produce Distributing Inc., said Gil Munguia Jr., president.

Quality of squash from Los Mochis was "really good," he said, though supplies were limited.

Rain showers up and down the west coast of Mexico in both the Sinaloa and Sonora growing areas were causing shortages, he said. But supplies should ramp up after the holidays if good weather returns.

Quality in general is "mixed" in Nogales because of the rain, he said.

Quality and demand are good on green bell peppers, and production on colored peppers was fair, though quality was good. Most peppers now arriving are greenhouse grown. Open-field red and yellow bell peppers should start within a week or two, at which time markets likely will decline somewhat, Munguia said.

The coming season seems to be shaping up to be a pretty good year, he said.

"Barring any natural disasters, I think we'll be all right this year," Munguia said.

At the Nogales office of The Oppenheimer Group, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mike Gracia, office manager, said volume and quality have been good so far on hothouse yellow, orange and red bell peppers from Jalisco and on European cucumbers from Jalisco and Culiacan.

One-layer flats of tomatoes from Culiacan also were of very good quality, he said.

Although greenhouse volume got under way sooner than expected in mid-September, he said field product was running late, in part because of below-normal temperatures and rain over the past three weeks in Sonora, the first growing area to come on each season.

Because of low prices last year, many growers cut back on tomato production and planted more red bell peppers this year.

Also, he said, buyers can expect to see more organic produce over the coming year as more growers add organic vegetables to their product lines.

Tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, bell peppers and watermelon are some of the major crops that ship out of West Mexico during the fall and winter, said Allison Moore, communications manager for the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas.

Shipments start as early as October from the Sonora growing area in Northern Mexico, but heaviest volume runs from early January until early April, she said. Sourcing moves southward into Sinaloa and beyond in January. Production returns to Sonora in the spring for melons and squash.

Last year, growers shipped 417,078 10,000-pound units through Nogales, the association reported. In 2005, 410,894 10,000-pound units came through the town. Moore expected volume to remain steady this season.

The trend toward protected agriculture - shade houses, greenhouses and hothouses - will continue to expand this season, she predicted, as growers seek more control over their products through more consistent temperatures and less exposure to the elements and insects.

In January, the association will send out merchandisers to encourage retailers to promote produce from Mexico in their stores and in their advertising, she said.

(By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

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