Tommy Atkins

The Ecuadorean mango industry is gearing up for a slightly shorter crop this season but better marketing conditions in the US in particular.

Volume is expected to be down by 5 per cent on last year’s 9m cartons, which was 10 per cent shorter than the previous year, according to Fundación Mango in Ecuador.

Export volume could also fall slightly as there are likely to be sharp production spikes during which it will not be possible to export all the harvested volume, Fundación Mango’s Bernardo Malo told Fruitnet.com.

However, Brazil’s mango export programme for the US is likely to be shorter this year and Peru’s mango producer association (Apem) has stated that it plans to redirect a greater proportion of exports to Asia – all of which bodes well for Ecuadorean suppliers.

“Barring any unforeseen climatic events, we’re expecting there to be no major overlap between the Brazilian, Ecuadorean and Peruvian production seasons, which should in theory be good news for prices,” Malo explained.

Ecuador exports 75 per cent of its mango crop to the US. The remainder is distributed in Canada, Europe, Russia, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and New Zealand, among other markets.

The full report will be published in the October/November issue of Americafruit Magazine.