The U.S. imported just 20.2 million single-strength-equivalent (SSE) gallons of apple juice in July, a notably small volume for the last month of the marketing year and the lowest for any month since 13.1 million SSE gallon in November 2011. Despite the drop in supply, stocks of non-FCOJ concentrate (most of which is AJC) in cold storage at the end of July were a smidge higher than last year.

Imports during 2018/19, at 459.2 million SSE gallons, were down 7 percent from 2017/18. China, with lower production and higher pricing in 2018/19, supplied just 33 percent of U.S. imports, with three months of imports falling below 1.0 million SSE gallons. In 2017/18, China accounted for 80 percent of our imported AJC.

Ample and affordable supply out of Eastern Europe made up for the volume lost from China, however. Poland alone supplied almost 20 percent of U.S. AJC imports, as did Turkey. Ukraine and Hungary also had the opportunity to ship more AJC to the U.S., at 39.4 million and 34.6 million SSE gallons, respectively.

U.S. monthly apple juice imports by season

Source: USDA
Posted by: Information Services
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