Agronometrics in Charts: Peru is the main exporter of blueberries once again

In this installment of the 'Agronometrics In Charts' series, Sarah Ilyas studies the state of the Peruvian blueberry industry. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural product, focusing on a specific origin or theme and visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

18/11/2022

According to the Association of Blueberry Producers of Peru (Peruvian Association of Blueberry Exporters), it is projected that 276,938 tons of blueberries will be shipped from Peru in the 2022-2023 season. In this season's campaign that lasted from May to October, the country dispatched 153.228.933 kilos of fresh blueberries for $843.725.006, that is, 31% more volume than in the same period of the previous 2021 campaign/ 2022, says Cilloniz Benavides, president of Inform@cción. According to the USDA Seasonal Perishables Weekly Report, the season is already past its peak and imports through the Philadelphia, New York City and Southern California ports of entry are expected to slow as growers begin to wrap up the season. During the 2021-22 campaign, La Libertad had a representation of 54,11%, followed by Lambayeque with a representation of 21,16% and Lima with 7,98% of the total..

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here).

Blueberry prices have been falling year after year due to the abundant supply from Peru and other countries. These volumes have caused imbalances in the supply/demand market. In October, prices fell below 5 dollars per kilo. The US dollar has been losing value against the Peruvian nuevo sol and growers are likely to be more affected by falling prices now compared to previous years.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometry users can view this chart with live updates here)

According to Proarándanos, the blueberry industry today faces several challenges, such as the exorbitant costs of ocean freight, with increases of more than 70% compared to pre-pandemic levels, the lack of containers. and the closure of destination ports. Despite these limitations, Peru has managed to remain the world's leading exporter of blueberries this season, for the fourth consecutive year thanks to the above-average performance of its shipments, according to the Association of Exporters of Peru (Adex). Peru ranks first as an exporting country since 2019, a position that has been maintained in 2020 and 2021”, says Lizbeth Pumasunco, Head of Consulting and Projects at Adex. The country has also managed to reach new markets (Portugal, Israel and Jordan) in the 2022 campaign.

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All US domestic farm product prices represent the cash market at the point of shipment (ie, packing house/climate-controlled warehouse, etc.). For imported fruit, price data represents the spot market at the port of entry.

You can track the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool created to help the industry make sense of the massive amounts of data professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and graphics in this article helpful, please feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com , where you can easily access these same charts, or explore the other 21 commodities we currently track.