Agronometrics Blog

As Chile’s lemon season winds down, we take a quick look at the market data to see where things are.

Prices and Volumes of Non-Organic Lemons from Chile


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
With August being the height of the season, Chile’s lemon exporters usually wind down their activities in September. This year, however, it looks like the season came a bit early, sending 21.7m kilograms in July - more than twice the amount that was exported in 2018.

August is already seeing a decrease in volume, but not too much lower than the same time period the previous season.

Non-Organic Lemon Volumes From Chile


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
In prices, the differences between the two seasons are more pronounced. In July - perhaps reflecting volumes - the pricing was almost half of what we were seeing the previous year.

In August, where vo…

Asparagus is a curious vegetable. Generally regarded to have been a part of the human diet for the last 2000 years, it seems to surface through archaeological artifacts among the Egyptian culture. Having been known to have been a part of the Roman diet and feasted upon the European nobility, it makes its way to the Americas in the mid-1800s.

Today asparagus is one of the fastest-growing categories we track, expanding 29% in the last four years from 192M Kilos to 250M Kg per year, mostly on the backs of Mexico and Peru.

The last two months, however, have seen Mexican asparagus stand out, offering a strong premium over Peru.

Non-Organic Asparagus Prices per Kilo by Origin


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
These volumes come in the low season, on the shoulders of the main part of Mexico's season. That corresponds to the production season of Guanajuato.

Historic Mexico Non-Organic Asparagus Volumes


Source: U…

Limes are seeing a massive increase in prices in the U.S. market. They doubled from $16.83 Wednesday last week to $34.17 on Wednesday of this week.

Non-Organic Lime Prices (40 Lb Cartons)


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
Although lime prices are not strangers to sudden price rises, these usually happen between February and May. This particular jolt in pricing therefore stands by itself against the last four years of much more stable pricing data.

Historic Non-Organic Lime Prices (40 Lb Cartons)


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
The price spike comes as a drought affects Mexican lime production. Maglio Companies this week reported that the drought is lasting longer than expected and supplies will start to get tight as the weeks go on.

Written by: Colin Fain
Original published in FreshFruitPortal.com on August 30, 2019 (Link)

The largest pear producer in the U.S. is Washington, the king state of pome fruit. The chart below illustrates what the season looks like, bringing to life the last 12 months of volumes and prices.

The Washington pear season runs from August to July in a classic distribution with relatively stable prices that dip as the season evolves. They range from $28.91 for a ⅘ bushel cartons in August to a low of $21.74 in April last year.

Washington Pears Non-Organic Prices and Volumes


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
As we just begin to wrap up last season, we can see Washington’s growth has been impressive. Offering U.S. consumers an increase of 15%, or 31 million kilos, more fruit than they had sent the previous season.

Historic Washington Non-Organic Pear Volumes


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
If we look at the difference in volume be…

In the last couple of weeks, the U.S. grape market has jumped up considerably from its lowest points which were around week 27 - coincidentally the week our last Grapes in Charts article was published. As we continue to track the commodity through the shift from Mexico to California, we can appreciate how the trend is close to the pricing we were seeing last year.

Historic U.S. market grape prices per case


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
The fact that prices jumped up are not a surprise to many industry observers; volumes more than justify what we are seeing.

Historic U.S. market grape volumes


Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can
view this chart with live updates here)
California previously said it is expecting less volume - a promise it has so far delivered on. As the season evolves, it will be interesting to see how far off of last year's bumper crop California will e…

As we bring price alerts to Agronometrics we thought we would pen a piece on our thinking behind the service as well as the methodology for it.

The idea for the Alerts arose from our conversations with the industry, where several people expressed high interest in knowing when there are important changes in the market prices that could affect their business.

This impetus created the Price Alerts! service, whereby we monitor daily average prices of every commodity on our platform, so that you don’t have to. As soon as the difference in price reaches a certain threshold you get an email alerting you of said price change. You can take a look at our sample report through this link (US Avocado Price Alert!)

In order not overflow our users with these email alerts, we have used some fancy statistical analysis and determined the required values so as to send some 12 alerts per year for each commodity. In the table below you will find the list of commodities along with their estimated limits t…

The role of militaries in the world is a contentious topic at best. However, there is no denying that their existence has brought about many changes that have come to define modern society as we know it. One of these changes is the creation of the strawberry.

A French military engineer Amédée-François Frézier is responsible for the fruit's development. He returned to France from Chile in 1714 with five specimens of an obscure berry called Fragaria chiloensis. When he crossed this berry from the coastal regions of Chile with North America's smaller Fragaria virginiana, what most of us know as a strawberry was born.

Today strawberries are the most commercialized berry in the U.S. They outpace blueberries by more than four to one, and both blackberries and raspberries by more than ten to one. Strawberries are also a seasonal fruit, with volumes hitting their peaks from May to June. On the other hand, their period of lowest supply takes place from November to December.

Historic…