Table grape imports into the U.S. market during the first half of 2022 surged to a new record, with all three main suppliers notching significant increases, newly released USDA data shows.
Imports of the fruit rose by 20 percent year on year from $1.6 billion to $1.92 billion.
The figure means that imports have more than doubled over the last decade during the first six months of the year, with $936 million recorded in 2012.
Chile, Mexico and Peru all increased their table grape exports to the U.S. by double-digits.
Chile increased its shipments to the market by 19 percent, from $630 million to $752 million. Mexico boosted its exports by 14 percent, from $544 million to $618 million. And Peru's shipments rose by 37 percent from $381 million to $521 million.
The volume of table grape imports also increased, but not as much as the value. From January to June this year U.S. table grape imports grew by 14 percent from 584,000 tons to 663,000 tons.
But in contrast to the value growth over the last decade, volumes have only risen by 34 percent since 2012, when 494,000 tons were registered in the first half of the year.
