Varying quality of limes coming from Mexico into the United States has limited the amount of fruit available, and that's made for high prices. The market could ease if there's a more steady supply of imported limes, but hurricane season in Mexico could see supplies remain low if any major storms hit lime-producing regions.
“I see this market continuing for the next two weeks,” said Steve Leal with S&J Distributing in Edinburg, Texas. “The market will stay this way just because there's a lack of quality, and those issues could be amplified if a storm brewing in the Caribbean veers into Mexico.” He notes that there's no definitive reason as to why fruit quality has not been uniform, though he knows the issue isn't confined to one region.
“Veracruz and Oaxaca are going, there's some production in Jalisco and there's sporadic production in Colima and Michoacan,” said Leal. “A key factor in all of those places has been the heat. There's also been some rain, which can damage the fruit.” High demand in Europe, he added, has drawn away some of what has already been a light supply of limes, further hiking up prices.
On August 2, prices for a 40-pound carton of seedless type 110 limes from Mexico were between $8.00 and $12.00 at crossings through Texas, and prices for a carton of seedless type 250 limes were between $7.00 and $9.00.
