“According to the United States Agricultural Department estimates, imports from South America in FY 2022 are projected to rise $2.2 billion from the February forecast to $20.1 billion.
Imports from Brazil are expected to increase $900 million from the previous estimates due to greater expected sales values of coffee and beef products, while Chile (up $200 million), Colombia (up $300 million), and Peru (up $600 million) are expected to supply more agricultural products than were forecast back in the February report. The USDA expects increases in the imports of poultry, cut flowers and nursery stock, coffee and fresh fruit from those countries to buoy the total.
The value of berry imports rose the fastest over the past decade, while the value of banana imports fell. As noted above, Mexico provided over half of U.S. fresh fruit imports by value in 2019, exporting fresh fruit worth over $7 billion, followed by Chile, $1.8 billion, and Guatemala and Peru, $1.2 billion each. Peru had the fastest growth in fresh fruit exports to the US, led by fresh blueberries. Peru’s volume has certainly increased since 2019.”
*This article is excerpted from freshplaza.com website, published 31st October 2022