U.S. apple industry stats show reduced volumes

April 12 , 2023

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U.S. apple industry stats show reduced volumes

In every statistical category, 2022-23 is a down year for the U.S. fresh apple industry.

The USAppleTracker report, released on April 10 by USApple, indicates that the total fresh crop and current storage holdings are down from the five-year average and recent years. U.S. fresh apple exports are also substantially down. U.S. fresh apple imports, which are always a relatively small industry factor, are also down.

As of April 2023, U.S. fresh apple holdings registered 50.2 million 42-pound bushels. This is down from 53.3 million in April 2022, and down from the five-year average, which is 54.4 million bushels for April. The five-year average for total seasonal movement before April is 67.3 million bushels. For the 2022-23 season, 52.3 million bushels have been shipped from holdings.

Processed apple holdings for this season are slightly down. As of April 2023, 21.1 million bushels were in storage. The five-year average as of April 2023 is 22.5 million bushels.

Monthly U.S. fresh apple export volumes have all been well below the five-year average. Except for matching the three million bushels exported in December of 2022 and 2021, export volumes for 2022-23 have slightly trailed the previous year, which was also a down year for volumes.

Since July 2022, U.S. fresh apple exports have ranged between about 1.8 million and the three million bushels exported in December.

In July 2022, the U.S. imported about 1 million bushels of fresh apples. There is a rapid monthly decline in import volumes, with very little apple import volume indicated from November through February.

To date for this season, total fresh apple exports are about 14 million bushels. Total imports are about two million bushels. Both these numbers are the lowest of the last five years.

As of April 2023, controlled atmosphere storage dominated storage techniques, with national fresh holdings in CA totaling 40.3 million bushels. Washington State apples accounted for 34.2 million CA apples. Refrigerated storage in April only totaled 9.9 million bushels.