Posts Tagged “Mexican blueberry shipments”
An 8 percent increase from 2023 is forecast for Mexican blueberry shipments, according to a new USDA report.
The U.S. is the top export market for Mexican blueberries, accounting for about 97% market share.
Mexico’s 2024 blueberry production is pegged at 81,000 metric tons, an increase because of sufficient water access and growing export demand, according to the report.
With more than 71,000 metric tons exported in 2022, Mexico ships more than 95 percent of their blueberries to the U.S. market.
The rate of production growth for Mexican blueberries is projected to be slower in 2024 than it was in 2023 due to competition from Peru, according to the USDA.
In 2023, Mexican blueberry production reached an estimated 74,800 metric tons, a 12 percent increase over the previous year due to production innovations and strong export demand.
Mexico’s blueberry industry has seen rapid growth in the past decade, with rising prices encouraging growers to expand production or switch from other crops to blueberries.
Mexican blueberry volume grew more than 80 percent between 2017 and 2022, with Mexico currently the world’s fifth-largest blueberry producer.
Mexico’s harvest use to start in early October, peaking between late April and early May. In contrast, for the 2024 harvest, producers have taken steps to delay the start of the harvest to early February in response to competition from Peru, which offers a similar product at lower prices during the October to January period, according to the USDA.
Producers are actively switching away from the biloxi blueberry variety to take advantage of the ongoing development of improved varieties that provide higher yields and better taste. 23 percent of the blueberry area is currently planted with the biloxi variety and 74 percent is planted with proprietary varieties.
The vast majority of Mexican blueberries are exported. Mexican blueberry exports totaled 71,509 metric tons in 2022, down about 2 percent compared to 2021.
Mexican blueberry shipments are expected to slowdown following a five-year growth, which exceeded 50,000 tons in 2020. However, the 2.6 percent projected growth over last season represents a slowdown, the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture told Opportimes.
International sales reached $399 million in 2020 with 95.9 percent of the exported volume going to the U.S., but exports went to 34 other nations.
The U.S. is the world’s largest blueberry importer, with import purchases worth $1.4 billion in 2020.
Blueberry shipments went from 15,000 to 29,000 tons from 2015 to 2016, to 37,000 tons in 2017, 40,000 tons in 2018, 49,000 tons in 2019, and 50,293 in 2020. During the last decade, blueberry volume has averaged an annual growth rate of 25.1 percent.
In 2020, 11,614 acres were allocated to blueberry production. The state of Jalisco generated 31.5 percent of the national production value with 23,169 tons.
A 5 percent increase over last year is forecast for the 2019-20 Mexican blueberry export season by th National Association of Berries (Aneberries) in Mexico.
Exports should total about 44m metric tons (MT), with the heaviest volumes expected from January though March.
North America receives a whopping 97 percent of the fruit, while Europe accounts for 1.7 percent and Asia 0.5 percent.
Mexican blueberry shipments started in light volume last August. The latest figures from the USDA show as of November only 4,617MT of blueberries had been harvested.
Mexcian strawberries and blackberries are expecting similar volumes to last season, according to Aneberries.