U.S. imports of Hass avocados saw a 20% rise in the first half of this year, driven by an uptick in Mexican supplies.

Imports from all markets rose from US$1.1bn to US$1.32bn from January through June year-on-year, USDA data shows.

This came largely due to a 16% year-on-year rise in Mexican imports from US$1.07bn to US$1.2bn. That increase came amid a larger production in Mexico and a smaller crop in California.

There was also a substantial increase from Peru, albeit from a much smaller base. U.S. imports from that country tripled over the six-month period year-on-year, rising from US$31m to US$77 million. The  country began harvesting much sooner than in 2018 and also shipped less fruit to Europe.

From Chile - the U.S.'s third-largest supplier over the period - imports rose from US$2m to US$7.4 million.

Looking back over the last several years, U.S. Hass imports have shown a strong upward trend. Imports rose from US$1.5bn in 2014 to US$2.5bn in 2017, but dropped to US$2.2bn last year. This increase has been driven almost solely by Mexico, which over those years represented between 85 - 94% of Hass imports.

Hass imports from Chile and Peru have fluctuated heavily over those five years. Hass supplies from Peru were registered at US$148m in 2014, falling then US$63m in 2016 and then rising again to US$171m last year. Meanwhile, imports from Chile from 2014 to 2018 were registered at US$64m, US$15m, US$65m, US$108m, and US$62m, respectively.

Colombia, a new player entering into the scene, represented US$77,000 of Hass imports in 2017 - the year it gained market access. This rose to US$592,000 in 2018, and from January through June this year imports reached US$1.4m.