February was another strong shipping month with an over 48% increase over last year. Year to date the industry is about 65% ahead of last year.

Domestic shipments had a slight increase from last year but once again it was the export markets that had the greatest increases:

• Central America: 1328% ​
• South America: 191% ​
• Europe: 82%
• Asia: 96.5%

China/Hong Kong remain some of our most important markets but we are seeing tremendous growth in India, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.

Going forward we do not see any reason for prices to moderate and in fact, we expect prices may increase as we look to a 2024 crop estimated to be in the 1.1B to 1.2B range. We understand many of the processors have withdrawn from the market as they evaluate their sold positions and determine what they want to carry over into the 2024 crop.