In this installment of the ‘In Charts' series, Cristian Crespo of Agronometrics illustrates how the U.S. market is evolving. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

This week's edition of In Charts, we will take a tour to see how the average prices of stone fruits have been acting in the U.S. market, specifically nectarines, peaches and plums.

In recent weeks there have been lower prices year on year, especially for nectarines and peaches; while plum prices have remained similar to those of last year. We will break down each group of fruit in the information below.

Nectarines

Beginning with nectarines which have experienced a decrease in prices between weeks 29 to 34 year on year. The curious thing is that in those same weeks, volumes were lower than in 2020, while prices have been falling since week 20.

Looking at the graph below, we can see that in week 34 the average price of nectarines was around US$1.42 per kilogram, a 29 percent decrease year on year. Currently, the incoming supplies are mainly from California and to a lesser extent from New Jersey and Appalachia.

Nectarine prices in the U.S. market (USD/KG)

(Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics) [Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here]

Peaches

Regarding peaches, which behaved almost identically to nectarines with a decrease in price between weeks 29 to 34 year on year. Similarly, during those weeks, total volumes were lower than those recorded last year in the North American market. Volumes from California have been lower than in 2020, while those from New Jersey and South Carolina continue to be higher.

As can be seen in the graph below, in week 34 the average price of peaches was $1.37 per kilogram, 31 percent lower year on year. Currently, California, South Carolina, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington are supplying the market.

Peach prices in the U.S. market (USD/KG)

(Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics) [Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here]

Plums

Plum prices in the U.S. market, although they have behaved similar to those of last year, have been falling since week 24. Recall that the prices of 2021 between weeks 4 to 16 were higher than 2020, while the Chilean season was ongoing.

Looking at the graph below, in week 34 the average price of plums was $1.73 per kilogram, a five percent decrease year on year. As of now, the supplies that are arriving are from California.

Plum prices in the U.S. market (USD/KG)

(Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics) [Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here] 

When low prices occur, despite lower volumes which break with the model of supply and demand curves, the first hypothesis that comes to mind is of a change in consumer tastes or a change in consumption from some fruits to others.

In our ‘In Charts’ series, we work to tell some of the stories that are moving the industry. Feel free to take a look at the other articles by clicking here.

You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool built to help the industry make sense of the huge amounts of data that professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and the charts from this article useful, feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same graphs, or explore the other 20 fruits we currently track.