Clementine market look in

The USDA is reporting an f.o.b. for California clementines this year and the Dec. 4 f.ob. showed cartons of four 5-lb containers with an f.o.b. range of $17.20-$18.40, which has been steady since mid-November. Meanwhile, the f.o.b. for 5-pound cartons of Spanish clementines in the Philadelphia region has been steady at $4.50-$4.75 for the last few weeks. As reported earlier by Andy Nelson of The Packer, Spanish clementine shipments to the U.S. were off last season's pace because of a more competitive market in Europe and the weak U.S. dollar. Shipments of Spanish clementines to the U.S. through early December were reported by the USDA at 42.5 million pounds, down from 55.7 million pounds the same time a year ago.