caltrek wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:29 pmGuacamole’s Days Are Numbered at Eateries with Avocados Scarce
by Leslie Patton and Allison Nicole Smith
February 17, 2022
I recently posted an update on the avocado situation in the Food Price Watch Thread. I am also including that update here:
Record Avocado Supplies Coming from Peru
by Tim Linden
My 26, 2022
Introduction:
(Produce News) The first shipments of Peru’s ample avocado supplies landed on U.S. shores in late March. The latest projection points to the country’s avocado exporters sending almost 240 million pounds of fruit to the U.S. market by the time the last piece of fruit is sold sometime in October, which would be about a 25 percent increase over 2021 and the largest volume the South American country has ever shipped to the United States.
The bulk of those supplies will arrive in the U.S. market from mid-June through September. Relaying input from each of the importing countries, the Hass Avocado Board publishes a weekly snapshot of shipments with both projections looking forward and accurate shipments reports as they occur. The “Volume Date & Projections” report on the HAB website reveals that the first 140,000 pounds of Peruvian fruit were shipped to the U.S. market during the week ending March 27. Until mid-May, supplies trickled in, never topping 500,000 pounds in any given week. As a point of reference, the U.S. market consumes about 50-55 million pounds per week on average.
In mid-May, Peru’s number significantly increased, and volume is expected to grow quickly as summer dawns and matures. Peru shipped almost 2 million pounds the week ending May 15 with volume projected to approach 6 million pounds in the week ending with the publication of this issue. Volume is expected to top 10 million pounds during the week ending June 19 and peak at more than 20 million pounds. For a seven-week period from early July to mid-August, volume is projected to top 17 million pounds each week, representing about one of every three avocados consumed in the United States. Peru is estimating shipments above 10 million pounds on a weekly basis from mid-June through August, tapering off in September and concluding by October 10.
Xavier Equihua, president and CEO of the Peruvian Avocado Commission, believes that this season is a harbinger of things to come. He said Peru continues to increase its own production with the United States being a very important market to Peruvian grower-shippers. Europe is still the number one destination for an avocado from Peru, but Equihua said the U.S. is an excellent market as it is the largest market and growing at the fastest clip.
Distributors of avocados in the United States are like-minded and are upping their Peruvian footprint.
The Magazine Supply Chain Is in Chaos. Mother Jones Isn’t Immune. by Claudia Smukler
June 2, 2022
Introduction:
(Mother Jones) It was Inauguration Day, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were being sworn in. It seemed like the nation had, just barely, survived one crisis after another—the Trump presidency, a horrific pandemic, and a coup attempt that had been thwarted only two weeks earlier.
But at Mother Jones, I had a different sort of crisis to contend with. As production director, I coordinate the manufacturing of our print magazine. We were finishing up the March+April 2021 issue, which was scheduled to go on press in a week. Trump was on the cover again. This time, he was cradling Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, two wannabe authoritarians wiggling like infants impatient to be released from their restraints.
There was an urgent email from my supplier: Our order of 70,000 pounds of paper would be delayed. The rolls were on a train car that had been loaded at a paper mill in the Pacific Northwest and was bound for the printer in Wisconsin. The shipment, he regretted to inform me, wouldn’t arrive until Monday, a mere 48 hours before it was needed on press.
That unsettling news ignited a flurry of calls and status updates. On Monday I learned that inclement weather over the weekend had caused the train to miss two switches somewhere near St. Paul. By the time it finally made it to the Milwaukee rail yard, it was stuck in a massive traffic jam of cargo waiting to be transferred to trucks, which were in short supply across the country due to 80,000 unfilled trucker positions. Even if our paper somehow reached the plant by press time, it would arrive completely frozen from its winter trek across the northern states. The massive rolls of paper—50 inches in diameter, weighing 2,500 to 3,800 pounds each—would need at least two days to thaw before they could be hoisted onto a high-speed web printing press.
Biden says he wasn't informed early on of baby formula woes
Source: ABC News
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was not briefed on the prospect of nationwide shortages of infant formula for about two months, and he acknowledged the strain on families as his administration struggles to address the situation.
Yet company executives at a meeting Biden hosted from the White House told the president that they knew the substantial impact that the shutdown of a major production plant in February would have on the U.S. supply almost immediately.
“They did, but I didn’t,” Biden told reporters later, saying he was not made aware of the severity until early April.
The delay, unexplained by Biden or White House aides, undercut the administration's efforts to demonstrate that he has been on top of a problem that has compounded stress and economic difficulties for families with young children at a time when Americans are already struggling with Inflation.
Ukraine grain exports via Poland and Romania face bottlenecks, says deputy foreign minister
Source: CNBC
Ukraine has established two routes through Poland and Romania to export grain and avert a global food crisis although bottlenecks have slowed the supply chain, Kyiv’s deputy foreign minister said on Sunday.
Dmytro Senik said global food security was at risk because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had halted Kyiv’s Black Sea grain exports, causing widespread shortages and soaring prices.
Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter and it says there are some 30 million tonnes of grain stored in Ukrainian-held territory which it is trying to export via road, river and rail.
Ukraine was in talks with Baltic states to add a third corridor for food exports, Senik said.
Senate Passes Bill to Boost American Microchip Manufacturing by Rose Wagner
July 27, 2022
Introduction:
WASHINGTON (Courthouse News) — After months of tumult, the Senate voted Wednesday to subsidize domestic semiconductor production, aiming to bolster the American manufacturing industry and compete against China’s market dominance.
The Chips and Science Act provides $52 billion in grants for American companies to produce semiconductor chip components and gives tax credits for those who invest in microchip manufacturing, a policy estimated to carry a $24 billion price tag.
Despite months of negotiations, the bill overcame the filibuster and crossed the finish line in the Senate on Wednesday, passing by a vote of 64-33.
Over five years, the bill would dole out billions of dollars for scientific research and for the National Science Foundation to create regional technology hubs with the hopes of bringing semiconductor manufacturing and technology production to new areas of the country.
Conclusion:
The bill is now headed to the House at a time when the chamber is moving full speed ahead with a long list of to-dos in the lead-up to the August recess, when lawmakers file out of Washington for their home states.
