Mexico Avocado Export Resumption After Michoacán Price Collapse, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): Mexico’s government announced Wednesday that avocado harvesting and exports to all markets, including the United States, will resume Thursday. The move follows an agreement between packing companies and workers to resolve a conflict triggered by falling fruit prices in Michoacán.
Mexican avocado exports will be restored Thursday after packers and workers reached an agreement to settle the dispute over the price drop in Michoacán, the government said Wednesday. Since October 23, growers in Michoacán had suspended harvesting and blocked highways to demand that packers pay a better price per kilogram.
At the same time, detection of the avocado seed borer pest in shipments from other states forced the destruction of about 52 tons of fruit.
Mexico is the world’s largest avocado producer, and Michoacán accounts for about 75 percent of national production. In the last season, the state exported 1.25 million tons to the United States, its main buyer, and about 211,000 tons to other international markets.
The agreement was reached late Tuesday night, after the price per kilogram fell to between 13 and 20 pesos, a level growers said does not cover basic production costs.
President Claudia Sheinbaum explained during her morning press conference that the price reduction was driven by growing international competition, as other countries increased their avocado supply in foreign markets, pressuring the margins of Mexican growers and farmworkers downward. “We are working with producers, cutters and agro-exporters, and also with the United States, to find ways to always guarantee avocado exports and prices,” the president said.
The Secretary of Agriculture ruled out risks of pest contamination in export shipments, stating that in 28 years of international commercialization Michoacán has recorded no cases of the seed borer in its orchards. “We are certain, we are very sure there is absolutely no seed borer pest, and tomorrow, as I have already said, agro-export resumes,” said Columba López.
López added that traceability to guarantee food safety “is very important.”
Authorities clarified that recently circulated images corresponded to isolated cases in Jalisco and Nayarit involving fruit destined for industrial oil processing or insects found outside packing facilities, and that this product was not part of the export chain. The National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) and local plant health boards keep records of orchards in 50 municipalities free of the pest and conduct random monthly inspections across 500 hectares to ensure phytosanitary standards.
