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Hurricane Helene could negatively impact the supply chain short term and possibly long term.
Seafood suppliers have planned for the ILA strike and extra supply has been positioned in the US. Pull volume as normal.
The ILA port strike that affected East and Gulf Coast ports ended Thursday night. Impacts to global supply chain should be minimal due to the strike length.
Bigger birds, better hatchability, and larger egg sets are allowing extra supply on the market, especially in the boneless market. Tenders and breasts are seeing increased supply on all sizes. Wings are seeing extra availability on all sizes. Dark meat demand remains very good. Whole birds are mostly balanced.
Butts both Bone–in and boneless are trading near established price levels. Loins are barely steady–as chop demand has decreased. Ribs are steady. Bellies are steady and market has settled. Trim is steady to higher for supply.
The SE Region demand is being impacted by hurricane Helene. Ribs continue to trade steady. Strips also are trading steady, while top butts are showing weakness. Tenderloins are steady but for how long? Chuck and round complexes are diverging; chuck rolls continue to show strength, while the round complex is adjusting lower. Grinds continue to offer opportunity to buyers.
Shell egg markets are down this week. California and Northwest markets are flat. The Block & Barrel are decreasing. Butter is down. Market participants are closely monitoring the potential impacts of Hurricane Helene and port strikes along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts.
Soybean oil futures traded higher last week with concerns of dry South American weather ahead of their planting. Crude oil moved higher, Canola, was higher, and palm oil were higher, too. There is also a strike looming by the Longshoreman which will disrupt imports and exports for all agricultural products.
Port strike is not expected to affect supply except for possible road blockages. Volume out of Mexico should increase into next week and all indications are that market should decline. Quality is reported as good from both growing regions. Larger sizing is more available.
East – Green limited, quality fair, markets increasing. Major growing area hurt from storm. Red and yellow bells are extremely limited.
West – Green are limited supplies with increasing market. Color peppers volume better.
Market is a little active as quality issues have reduced yields in the fields keeping volume snug and just meeting demand.
Market is steady but seeing some quality issues impacting yields that could move this market up as supplies are just moderate.
Market mostly steady to a bit higher on moderate supplies. Quality has been reported as good.
Market up on Cilantro. Parsley is mostly steady on moderate supply and demand. High heat in the forecast will likely impact yields and push these markets up.
Market remains high as supplies continue to be short but should start to see better production in the next 7–10 days and the market begin to soften.
Damage is still being assessed on the impact for green beans, corn, cucumbers eggplant, bell peppers and squash.
Demand is moderate to good, and market is mostly steady with good supplies and good weights reported. Extended heat expect to bring on some tip burn.
Romaine market is mostly steady with higher undertones as quality issues are impacting yields. Hearts have strong demand and good supplies. Market remains firm on hearts.
Supplies are good on new crop yellows and reds from Washington and Idaho. Demand is good. Quality has been good. Prices are lower on all colors.
Supplies are good on the new crop. The size so far is large with some growers being limited on small sizes. Quality is also good. Prices are lower on all sizes.
East – Zucchini and yellow squash available, quality is hit and miss, market is steady now but will trend up.
West – Volume steady but with some quality issues surfacing. New areas scratching late next week. Market is steady.
Supplies are steady on all varieties (rounds, roma, grape, & cherry). Grower/shippers are still in the process of assessing any possible damage from Hurricane Helene. Quality is good on all varieties.
Rain in multiple regions and a National holiday in Mexico has limited harvest and the market is higher, and demand exceeds supplies on almost all sizes, including #2 fruit. Pipeline should fill back up in the next 10–14 days.
Lemons – Demand for lemons is steady. The coastal district is winding down, while the harvest in the desert has begun for several suppliers. Chilean imports still have a few weeks to go and peaking on 200s and 165s. Desert district is peaking on 140s, 165s, 200s followed by 115s. Central CA district should start late to mid–October.
Oranges – High demand continues to push market up while supplies are dwindling down. Domestic Valencia oranges have finished for most all suppliers. Import volume will be limited from now to the start of California navel season, which is projected to start late October.
Limes – New crop producing 60% of volume in 250’s/230’s. Very limited volume in 110’s/150’s. Quality is improving. Large sizes will be extremely limited during the start of the new production and market will be higher than smaller fruit.
Supplies remain good and quality good as well. Not much change expected for the next 2 weeks, market is steady.
